A Lesson In Foreign Relations
by Leola Majora
Summary: In the aftermath of the war a nation across the ocean conducts spirit beast experiments in hopes of harnessing chakra powers for their people. They have sought out the Shinobi world after these experiments go awry. They need help controlling their new source of power. Future Mature Content- Kakashi Romance to develop.
1. Chapter 1

Notes from the Author

This if my first time uploading anything onto this site so please be kind! Clearly, I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. This is an adaptation after the war once everything has calmed down. Everything I've added that has not been previously in the series is my own fictional creation.

Hope you guys like it!

* * *

**Chapter One**

Tsunade ruffled the papers around on her desk, letting out a sigh of exasperation. So much paperwork all the time. It was so boring being Hokage.

Shizune eye her wearily from her corner of the room, knowing all too well where her mentors mind had wandered too. She hoped to herself that something exciting would happen to the village soon – not too exciting though.

Four years had passed since the war and the Ninja world had changed rather drastically. Life had calmed down with the newfound peace created mostly from Naruto's efforts; but with peace came boredom for some shinobi. There were still conflicts between smaller nations but for the most part the major hidden villages maintained good relationships so as to uphold the peace and unity they managed to attain with the Allied Shinobi forces. Relationships between the major nations were still precarious but the efforts of the younger generation had done a great job so far at maintaining the peace. However, with peace comes boredom.

"That's it!" Tsunade said jumping up from her desk with force, causing paperwork to blow across the desk and onto the floor, "Shizune, we're going out! I can't sit here any longer."

"But, my lady, the documents for the –" Shizune was cut off by a loud grunt from the Hokage.

"I've been doing paperwork all day every day for what feels like eternity, Shizune! Let's just have Naruto take over as Hokage and let me get back to my life."

Shizune stifled a laugh at the thought of Naruto sitting behind the desk doing the paperwork that Tsunade didn't have the patience for. "I'm not sure, even now, that Naruto is mature enough to handle the duties of a Hokage, my lady."

Tsunade groaned as she sat back down and slumped her head into the table. "You're right. I'm not even sure he's literate." Tsunade grabbed her pen in defeat and began rifling through the mess on her desk. "I just wish there was something exciting to distract me."

As the words left the Hokage's mouth a loud, urgent knock was heard from the door. Shizune glanced at Tsunade with a look of derision. "Be careful what you wish for my lady."

* * *

The copy-nin lazily walked down the main street of Konoha, fingering his pouch pocket as he contemplated rereading the last issue of his favourite series. He'd already read it countless times but had yet to find a replacement for his favourite series since Jiraiya's untimely death. He tried reading so many but nothing he picked up compared to the Icha Icha books. No one could describe "adult themes" quite the way Jiraiya could.

The ever-growing crowd of young ninja collecting on the corner brought Kakashi out of his reverie. He saw Ino and Sakura loudly sharing information with what seemed to be every Genin and Jonin of their generation. He smiled to himself under his mask, wondering which one of them had confessed to whom to cause such an outbreak of excitement in the young folk. Strangely, he felt an urge to inquire- seeing as he had basically memorized Icha Icha Tactics. The copy-nin lazily walked over to the group.

"That's what I overheard guys- I have no more details than that!" exclaimed Sakura. "They all looked really weird though, like they were from another world."

"They pretty much are if they are coming from across the ocean. I wonder what made them come here, and why now?" Shikamaru stared contemplatively up at the sky. "We'll have to start with more foreign relations now, what a drag."

"What do you mean they looked weird? Were they toad people?" Naruto asked staring contemplatively at nothing. Clearly he was trying to picture it.

"You're such a moron Naruto. No, they just had different clothes on, weird jewelry and expressions. There were two older men- I'm assumeing they were ambassadors or something. And then some younger military-esque men and women escorting them. They were not Ninja," Sakura strained to remember all the details. "Tsunade looked really intrigued but sceptical."

"Were the women hot?"

Ino smacked Kiba over the head. "You're an ass." Despite her anger Ino couldn't help but smile. "I bet there will be a bunch of handsome guys coming now. Konoha is in serious lacking of handsome, interesting men."

"Oh, I don't think that's true. I always thought I was plenty handsome and interesting." Ino's face went from goofily imagining cute boys to an uncomfortable blush.

"Kakashi-sensei… ugh, I just meant guys my age…"

"So now I'm old?" Kakashi faked a sigh of sadness. Both Sakura and Naruto stifled laughter as their old sensei teased their friend. "What are you guys talking about anyways?"

"You don't know!? This afternoon a group of ambassadors from a continent across the ocean came to visit Lady Tsunade. They say they are from a nation called Clyvaen, I think that's how they pronounced it" Sakura answered excitedly. "I saw them go into Lady Tsunade's office and I tried to listen through the door but didn't get much. I think they said something about wanting to form an alliance or whatever. Lady Tsunade seemed really hesitant though."

As Sakura finished talking an Anbu member popped up seemingly out of nowhere and handed a scroll to Kakashi before disappearing again. Kakashi opened the scroll and glanced the contents with lazy interest before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. The group of young, or not so young anymore as they were all verging on their twenties, stared dumbfounded at the place where the Copy-nin had previously been standing.

"He's so rude sometimes," mumbled Sakura in mild disbelief.

"He's probably got some mission involving the new nation" Shikamaru said thoughtfully.

"NO FAIR! I want a mission!" yelled Naruto, which was followed by the typical assortment of laughter by his peers.

"No one would send you on a relationship building mission, idiot."

* * *

Kakashi knocked on the door to Tsunade's office and was greeted with a pleasant "come in". As the door open Kakashi scanned his surroundings. Sakura's rumour was indeed true. Sitting casually by the window were two older men and one middle-aged man in some of the strangest clothes Kakashi had ever seen. It wasn't so much the style of them, as they were typical suits but just the ornateness and amount of jewellery attached to them. One of the older me had quite the beard as well. Just slightly behind them were three younger men and a young woman standing against the wall- watching him with mild, but alert interest.

Lady Tsunade was sitting at her desk with an almost forced smile on her face and she kept unconsciously scanning her guests.

"Ahh, Kakashi. Surprisingly on time today. I had half expected to have my guests waiting for hours" she cocked an eyebrow at him in mild interest.

"Well, you know, gossip flies and I was rather interested in seeing if the rumours were true" Kakashi laughed lazily as his hand reached up behind his head in a familiar gesture. At these words Tsunade looked at him incredulously.

"Rumours? No one outside of this room should know anything about this…Sakura… that stupid girl! Who did she tell?"

"Ah, well, just the usual bunch- Naruto and Ino…."

"Any every other Genin in Konoho by now!" Tsunade angrily looked out the window. "I was hoping this would all happen a little more quietly."

The middle-aged man near the window coughed as if he were slightly annoyed with the pace of the conversation. Tsunade glared at him for a few seconds before continuing.

"Well Kakashi, I'll fill you in from the beginning regardless of what Sakura has been passing around. These," she waved to the men sitting in her office. "are ambassadors from Clyvaen, a nation on a continent across the sea that was only in our history books. Generations ago the great nations had some dealings with them but we don't have much beyond a few trade agreements in our records. We had just assumed it was a neighbouring nation that got wiped out in a war, but apparently that is not the case." Tsunade looked at the elderly man with the beard as if urging him to continue the story.

The bearded man just stared blankly out the window as if completely unaware that there were even people in the room. His companion looked at him warily, smiling a little, and nudged him "Maester Hasper… the Hokage is, uhm, expecting you to speak I think." His accent was thick but he spoke the language of Konoho quite well for a foreigner.

Maester Hasper looked back towards the room. "Oh right! Sorry, the scenery is quite magnificent here. Right, where were we?" He seemed to be struggling to remember why he was there. The middle-aged man seemed to lose his patience at this point and stood up.

"Let's just hurry this on quickly, can we. The clans want an answer by tonight. We don't have time for all this," he looked at his companions then back to Tsunade as if waiting for permission to speak. He waited a few moments before continuing as he released that he was not in as formal of society as he was used to. "Caball of the wolf clan, I'm the representative of the clans back home on this endeavour. We've recently polled for a reunification of our relations with the Ninja world. Our previous absence from your continent was due to a civil war outbreak over 200 years ago and a lack of reliant technology to properly, and swiftly traverse the ocean. Anyways, we've recently developed a new form of technology that allows for us to transport our, and hopefully your, from our nation to yours in a matter of seconds. As such we've come here hoping to –" Caball was cut off by Tsunade.

"What do you mean transport in a matter of seconds?"

"Ah, well, how to explain…"

"Is it some sort of justsu?" Kakashi prodded cautiously. No wonder Tsunade was suspicious. The young soldiers behind the ambassadors and clansmen glanced at Kakashi comically.

Maester Hasper coughed so as to direct the attention of the room to him. "Not that no. Our people are incapable of using Chakra naturally. So over the years we developed aids, such as talisman, swords or rings that allow us to tap into natural elements to perform godly feets. We developed these over the past 200 hundred years from our previous dealing with Ninja. This technology is also why the civil war started. Our nation has remained fully peaceful within itself- unifying all clans and cities under one government. The government consist of clan representatives who vote and decide on our nations future." He finished matter of factly.

Tsunade looked at him thoughtfully. " So you are capable of harnessing natural chakra into items?"

Before answering Hasper quietly tapped an ornate ring on his pointer finger before causing a big puff of smoke. Kakashi bent down in preparation for an attack, worried that this was some ploy to get at the Hokage. As the smoke cleared he saw he was wrong. In Haspers hand was an animatronic bird. Something Kakashi had never seen. He stared at it with curiosity.

Tsunade stared on with interest. "Alright, and you want us to allow you to form a transport whatever to allow you to trade these items or test them out here" she said, accusation rising in her throat.

"Oh no, not at all, not all, my dear. We wouldn't trade these with your people unless you really wanted to. We are coming for a different reason. We've been developing this technology in order to try and help the ninja world rebuild itself after the disastrous war you just had. It was also decided by the council that the powers over here are far too strong for us to not have relations with its people. The outcome of that war could have affected us as well but at the time we had no real way of helping. We have supplies and medicinal techniques that could be of use to your people in the future- and really just wish to help rebuild your nation in order to show our commitment this time around."

"You can't expect me to think that you are just coming here out of good will. There is something you want and I can smell it." Tsunade looked angrily at the men in her office.

"Lady Tsunade, don't be rude to our guests" Shizune scoffed from the corner.

Kakashi was eyeing up the soldiers in the back. They looked battle hardened. Even the Caball fellow seemed to have battle scars.

Hasper looked around thoughtfully, as if waiting for one of his companions to talk. The second old man just looked very uncomfortable as he was in closet proximity to Tsunade and undoubtedly could feel her power. Caball let out a loud exasperated sigh.

"As Clansmen representative I guess I'll just have to get into it and hope for the best" Caball looked at Tsunade thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "We need help with an ancient experiment gone awry. We know all about the tailed beasts, particularly the one you have here that has mastered the connection. Our people had attempted to utilize spirit beast power hundreds of years ago, which is where we were able to get out ability to harness natural powers. Some of us now, mainly the clans, still have the blood of those people in our veins, which is why we are more adept at using our technology for "chakra" powers. Our most adept users join the military or lead out clans. However, this power has been running out and we needed to revamp the bloodlines so to speak."

Tsunade glared at him dangerously. "What do you mean? Jinjuriki powers don't pass down through bloodlines."

"We never made Jinjuriki." He hesitated before continuing. "Our spirit beasts are not as full of hate as the ones you capture inside soldiers here. They are more akin to you summoning beats but still spirits. Our people struck a deal with them years ago to meld bloodlines with soldiers but the results were catastrophic at first. This time around we thought we had perfected the technology and the clan heads really pushed to continue with it. So about 20 years ago the Clans each chose a women for impregnation. The main clans who participated are as follows; my clan the Wolf, the Lion, The Bear, The Bat, The Fox and The Dragon. At first it seemed everything went well. All that was left was to wait for the babies to reach age and we would awaken the spirit sides and our nations power would flourish again. We made a huge mistake though. The children can't really handle the power and we have been forced to use subduing rituals on a few of them for fear that they would harm the people. We hoped that, seeing as you all know how to actually, physically harness this power, that you could teach them control in exchange for supplies."

Tsunade, Kakashi and Shizune stared at the man dumfounded. Hasper quickly piped in "This is a lot, we know, but we really do need to answer the council by nightfall. We can leave you be to decide if you want…"

Kakashi looked at Tsunade with urgent thoughtfulness. Why had she brought him here? Tsunade stared back at him, contemplative. "I'm going to have to discuss this with the council. Kakashi, I want you to escort this whole group around the village for an hour."

Ahh, babysitting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes from the Author:**

-Do not own Naruto.

I hope you are all enjoying this. Its taking a bit longer to set things up than I thought it would. Names are hard too. It will get exciting soon!

Please continue to be nice!

**Chapter Two**

A few weeks had passed since the council had decided to go ahead with Clyvaen request. Tsunade was very apprehensive about the ordeal and demanded that the transportation device be placed a few days journey from Konoha. The other hidden villages were informed and invited to meet the ambassadors. The Clyvaens were cordial but seemed most interested in maintaining relations with Konoha specifically.

Once the transportation device had been set up, foreign relations missions began as well as missions to collect resources from the continent. Tsunade and the other Kage wanted to be absolutely sure that their people would be safe. So far all missions had been very successful but mostly just about building a trusting relationship. The new nation had yet to introduce the spirit children that they needed help with as they thought, and the Kage agreed, that they should focus first on introducing the two cultures together.

The major clan heads had been met by the Kage intermittently. There were primarily zero hiccups in conduct but it was clear some of the clan heads were not keen on the way things were developing.

Kakashi had been let off of his babysitting duties to deal with more pressing missions. Most of the rooky nine had been dealing with relations on the Konoha end of things but were all very eager to see the new continent. They knew that it was unlikely that they would all go at once but had high hopes for a trip in the future. Things between the Shinobi world and the gadget users, as they had now been deemed by the younger generation, were going better than expected.

* * *

Sakura sighed impatiently as he sat in a room full of his peers. They had all been summoned at once, which was highly unusual, into a large antechamber that was often used for Jonin level debriefings. Sakura could see Naruto fidgeting in the corner, trying to look as mature and patient as possible but failing miserably. Ino was excitedly blabbering to Shikamaru about how this could possibly be the moment that they all got sent to the foreign land. Shikamaru just looked bored as per usual. Hinata was eagerly staring at Naruto. Kiba, Shino, Choji, Neji and Lee were all quietly murmuring about what this summons could be about. Footsteps were heard outside and they all simultaneously looked up to the door expecting to see Lady Tsunade walk in.

There was a huge groan from Naruto's end of the room. "You've got to be kidding me! We've been here for 20 minutes so far and the only person to come in is Kakashi-sensei! This is killing me!" he whined.

Kakashi looked about the room. You could see a hint of a smile in his eyes as he looked at Naruto. "I guess my news of a mission is unwanted then?" he said, cocking an eyebrow at Naruto.

The blonde ninja brighten up excidetly- as did the rest of the room "Whose it for! It better be for me!" Naruto ran at Kakashi in his excitement- looking for a mission scroll.

"Actually, its for all of us. We are going over to the Clyvaen capital city as representatives of the Hokage." Kakashi lazily drawled as a few quiet cheers and "I knew it's" were heard in the room. The Copy-nin waited for the room to quiet down before continuing. "I know its unusual for this many ninja to be sent on a foreign relations mission but the Clyvaen Clan heads were adamant that Ninja of this age group be sent over for a ball of sorts." The guys in the room looked at each other in both fear and disgust where as Ino and Sakura excitedly exclaimed "A party!"

Kakashi chuckled softly at the look of terror and anger on Naruto's face. "Don't worry, there is a tournament too. They've requested that we all take part in a tournament with their 'spirit children'."

The room met Kakashi with blank stares. Not much information about the Clyvaen failed experiment had been released to Konoha and none of it had been passed down to the younger ninja. Kakashi lazily monitored the room. He really didn't want to explain the entire story, especially since he only had a little bit of information on the subject himself. Naruto and Lee seemed to be struggling between excitement for the prospect of a tournament and fear at the idea of a party. The first to talk, surprisingly, was Hinata, "Uhm, Sensei? What does that mean?"

All eyes in the room were on the Copy-nin in anticipation. The foreigners were quite the mystery and everyone in Konoha was fascinated with any details of the foreign world. Kakashi let out a quiet sigh, which only caused the young Hyuga to turn beat red as she assumed she had overstepped her position.

"We don't really know much about it, honestly. What I can tell you can never leave this room," Kakashi looked around the room seriously, making sure that this information had sunk in. " These "children", who are in fact around the age of all of you, are the reason that the Clyvaens are here, essentially." The Copy-nin paused as he took in all the confused looks around the room. "From what I understand they are a failed experiment, at least that is what they were called. It seems that a couple hundred years ago our two worlds had been in contact and the Clyvaens were inspired by our use of the Tailed beasts. It seems they have more chakra beasts over there and these kids are-"

"They're like me?" Naruto interjected. Kakashi waited as the room let this sink in.

"Not quite. But close. It seems that with all their technology they were able to combine spirit beasts, that they claim are more like a mix of our chakra beasts and summoning beasts, with some sort of impregnation ritual and these "children" are half human half beast. They can't control their abilities as they come from a people incapable of naturally controlling chakra. They've asked us to help." Kakashi paused as looks of horror and anger passed over some of the young ninja's faces.

"Why would they do that?!" Anger rose from Naruto's throat.

"That's awful," both Ino and Sakura said quietly.

The Copy-Nin was wearily happy that his students were as appalled by this thought as he was. His eyes softened as he looked about the room. "That is all I know. Oh, they are all from the major clans that rule their nation. And something has been done to supress their powers. There is nothing we can do about what they have done. It's not our business. The best we can do is help these people control what's inside them, but I'm not even sure what they expect us to do." Kakashi's grave words settled about the room before he continued. "Well, we leave at noon for the device. Meet you all at the gates." With a pop and a puff of smoke, Kakashi was gone.

The room was very quiet as they thought about the mission ahead. Sakura walked over to Naruto, knowing that the thought of what the Clyvaens had done bothered the Jinjuriki. She smiled sweetly at the blonde ninja. "If anyone is going to help these people its you, Naruto."

"Yea, and just think! A huge party just for us!" Ino said excitedly before a look of horror passed over her face. "Oh my god, Forehead! What are we going to wear!" Ino grabbed Sakura and Hinata by the wrists before flying out of the room yelling about clothes and her hair.

Kiba scoffed in the corner before a wolfish smile crossed his face. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna win whatever tournament. Show these fools what Ninja can do. Ain't that right, Akamaru!" The big dog let out a bark of confirmation.

"Correction, Kiba. I will win this tournament." Lee exclaimed. "In the name of Gai-sensei!"

The room broke into laughter as the guys began excitedly talking about the fighting styles of foreigners before everyone split up to pack.

* * *

A couple day's had passed since Kakashi and Gai had lead the group away from Konoha. They had reached their destination and were getting ready to pass through the transportation device. The device itself was massive. Kakashi wasn't really sure how they made it so quickly. It was a shimmering archway made of dark coloured glass-rock. The ground around it was covered in glowing ritualistic marks. There were Clyvaen Monks on either side of the archway standing at pedestals. They were mumbling words very quickly while dark red chakra emanated from their hands into the center of the pedestals. Shizune ran up to the group from a tent to the left of the archway.

"This is a device?" Sakura said as she greeted Shizune.

Shizune laughed at the look on the young ninja's faces. "It seems some things were lost in translation. Anyways, we are going to send you all over right now, so get up there. And remember, you are representing Konoha and Lady Tsunade." Shizune ushered them up to the edge of the archway. "There will be emissaries to meet you on the other side. You'll be there for a couple days at the most!"

The group seemed a bit startled that they would be leaving so quickly. As they got closer to the archway itself the Monks began chanting louder. There was a flash in the middle of the archway as a mirage-like swirl of colour expanded from the middle to the edges. "Goodluck guys! It doesn't hurt- just walk through!" Yelled Shizune over the voices of the Monks.

Kakashi laughed as he watched the terrified look on everyone's faces. He wasn't feeling too great about the situation himself but the portal had been tested many times and he knew it was safe. Gai noticed Kakashi's cool laughter and became overcome with the idea of competition. "Oh Kakashi! Always so cool. I will not let you show me up!" He roared as he leapt through the portal. Lee quickly followed yelling about the greatness of Gai-sensei.

Kakashi watched as slowly all the Ninja gathered their courage and walked through the portal before following himself. It felt like walking through hot, muggy air. It didn't hurt and it was over in a second. The colours had flashed weirdly and it was taking a moment for his eyes to adjust. He heard gasps from Ino and Sakura as they saw where they were. He nearly gasped himself.

They were inside a building so large that the archway, which had looked massive next to the trees, seemed miniscule. The ceiling was vaulted and painted as were every inch of the floor and walls. They were met by a group of 6 official looking men. A couple of them were smiling at their reactions. Kakashi recognized Caball standing among the six, which meant that this must be their high council of clan heads. The Copy-nin noticed that there were guards standing near the doors to this massive hall but the rest of the room was completely empty. What appeared to be the eldest of the 6 council members walked forward and greeted them all with a wide smile.

"Hello there Ninja of Konoha! It is such a delight to see you all" He paused as most of the young ninja greeted him with timid smiles. Naruto was still distracted by the room itself.

"Kakashi-sensei, this place is massive!"

The man who was addressing them all smiled at this. "Right you are, young man! It was built specifically for this purpose." Naruto seemed to be taken off guard since he had not known anyone was talking. The man just smiled wider at the incredulous look on Naruto's face. "Now, introductions are in order. I am Corvine, head of the Bat Clan, it is my utmost pleasure to welcome you to the Clyvaen Capital City, Monoloft." Corvine gestured behind him to the other clan heads. "Some of you may have met Caball, head of the wolf clan." Caball nodded briefly at Kakashi. All the clan heads were wearing ornate clothing composed of many gems and colours. Most had a particular theme that Kakashi assumed had to do with their clans origins.

"That rusty haired fellow next to Caball is the fox clan leader Reynard." Reynard smiled brightly at the group. He appeared to be the youngest of the clan heads. "Next to him is Auberon of the bear," Carvine gestured to a massive man standing in the center of the group. Bear was right, thought Kakashi. Auberon's face didn't change as he looked at the crowd. His expression was neither friendly nor unfriendly. If anything he looked tired.

"After Auberon we have Tau, head of the Lion clan," there were giggles from Ino and Sakura. Kakashi and the rest of the group glanced over at them. The two girls were blushing profusely. Kakashi looked back to the councilmen, Tau was grinning knowingly back at the girls. He had a mane of blonde hair and was the most extravagantly dressed of the bunch. Kakashi suspected the girls found him appealing to the eyes.

"Lastly," Corvine continued "Is Godric of the dragon clan." Godric was not friendly in the slightest. Kakashi could almost see the malice surrounding him. This was a man to be watched.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, we should hurry on to the festivities" Corvine turned around and beckoned for the group to follow him.

"Wait, what?" Ino cried out. "We only just got here,"

"Pipe down, Ino Pig!"

Corvine turned back around and laughed at the girls. "We don't want to keep you from your home lands for very long, and everyone is excited to meet you all."

"Things will be explained later on." The deep voice boomed from Godric with authority. The young ninja calmed down before following in awed silence as they took in their surroundings.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes from the Author:

I think this is being well received so far :)

Thank you my one commenter!

I apologize for how long this chapter is. I've been really into this for the past couple days- hence the how quickly I've updated. Chapter 4 is already written as well.

I really enjoyed this part. I hope you do to!

**Chapter Three**

The ninja were not given much time to collect themselves as they were ushered through a courtyard and into another large building. Music could be heard throughout this building as well as raucous laughter from far off. Ino and Sakura began protesting about their travel laden clothing before Corvine stopped to direct the girls into a room in which they could change. The male Ninja all chose to stay as they were. What appeared to be a servant came up to Corvine as the group waited for the girls.

"Ahh, there you are. If you all would like to give your packs and such to Gerard here then we can be on our way."

Kakashi eyed him with mild suspicion. "Where will our stuff go?"

Corvine laughed slightly, "Just to the tournament grounds. After the festivities we will head there." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. Why did they want to rush things so quickly?

The girls re-entered the hallway. Sakura, Hinata and Tenten were all in more casual dresses where as Ino had gone all out with a Yukata. Shikamaru stared at her in mild, lazy interest. "Who are you trying to impress?" Ino just giggled and ignored him. A grumble escaped from Choji's stomach as he asked "Is there going to be food?"

All but one of the clan heads laughed at this. Godric just stood off to the side looking sour and impatient. Kakashi wasn't the only one to notice this as Neji and Shino eyed him with mild, quiet interest.

"Just you wait," came from Auberon. With a bearish grin on his face he clapped Choji on the back and led him towards to laughter.

They were soon at the entrance to another massive hall but this one was full of people and tables. They briefly passed a window that hinted that it was early evening. Auberon, the bear clan head, lead Choji through the room to a massive table covered in a buffet of food and drink. Auberon laughed as not only Choji, but Naruto, as the pair ran towards the food. Naruto shouted "I hope they have Ramen!"

The clan heads all seemed to usher one or two ninja towards some event in the room, eventually leaving Kakashi with Godric the dragon. Godric didn't seem to notice as he was scanning the room as if searching for something or someone.

Kakashi continued to lazily take in the events happening around him while being sure to watch Godric. He didn't trust him at all. The Copy-nin watched Naruto and Choji dig into the food at the table with amusement. Auberon had grabbed a tankard of what Kakashi could only assume was a form of alcohol. Auberon guzzled it down with gusto, laughed loudly and gestured both Naruto and Choji toward another large, bearish young man at the buffet. After a closer look Kakashi relealized this man was around the same age as Naruto and Choji. He had the same features as Auberon with the addition of a fur-like beard. Kakashi's interest peaked as he saw how muscular he was. The guy was huge- he towered over both Auberon and Choji.

There was a lot of laughter coming from them, which was very different form the first impression they had all received from Auberon. In his scrutiny Kakashi failed to notice Godric staring at him in amusement. "So you've noticed the bear first."

Kakashi turned his gaze to Godric and just stared. "Am I supposed to know what that means," he replied with as much indifference as he could muster.

Godric laughed which contorted his face in an ugly and menacing way. "No. But I'll explain. That is the bear spirit warrior, Berwyn" Kakashi met his gaze inquisitively then looked back to Berwyn. "Unless you don't know that he is one of the reasons that you are here..?"

"I'm aware. I just expected that the half beasts would not look human."

Godric stared at Berwyn with a look of both hatred and envy but didn't say anything for a while. "You'll meet them all soon," was all he said before beckoning Kakashi to follow him to a nearby row of tables.

Kakashi noticed that the tables were divided up into 6 sections and each featured some monument to the clan animals. Godric had lead him to the Dragon section. The tables were a shiny dark purple, much like many aspects of Godrics clothes. Most of the people sitting here were drinking wine and all shared similar features with Godric. The men were terrifyingly ugly and beautiful at the same time, while the women were more strikingly beautiful in an unpleasant way. They all had the same bland and bored look on their faces. Kakashi silently cursed to himself. He'd got stuck with he snobs.

The Copy-Nin took a seat to the far side of the table. Making sure to separate himself from most of the others in the area. He wanted to remain outside of the events. He wanted to make sure nothing funny was going on. Godric eyed him with mild interest before a servant dressed in the colours of his clan came up and whispered something to him in another language. Kakashi watched as an expression of fury crossed Godrics face and he whispered back. Some of the clansmen around him must have overheard something of interest because they all looked at Godric with a bit of fear.

"If you'll excuse me." Godric left before Kakashi had a chance to say anything.

Kakashi decided to just sit there and watch. There was some food at every table but nothing compared to the buffet. Not like he would eat here anyways. He needed to keep up his mysterious appearance after all.

The Copy-nin's attention was drawn back to the buffet table as Naruto, Lee and Gai were shouting excitedly about something. More of what appeared to be the bear clan had gathered there. Kakashi watched as the fox clan head ushered a brilliantly red-headed young man in the direction of Naruto. Kakashi almost did a double take at the resemblance. The young man had the same whisker marks on his face as Naruto. Naruto seemed to get incredibly excited, as did the other young man. That must be the fox then, thought Kakashi. Hopefully the likeness stops at the face, he thought wearily. Not wanting to have to deal with another Naruto.

There was a giggle next to him, which startled Kakashi. There was a girl sitting right next to him. Kakashi just stared at her with intense interest. He should have sensed her approach. As the copy-nin stared he noticed that she was clearly of the dragon clan- but not like the others. She was stunning in an innocent way. He had never seen someone as gorgeous. She was not fit like a kunoichi but supple and had mischievous eyes. Eyes that somehow were both every colour yet not colour at all. Her hair was the same as her eyes. At first it appeared to be a colourless black but it shimmered when light got caught in it. She continued to just stare at him and smile while sipping at some wine. Her cheeks were blushed with the affects of alcohol. She was not dolled up like the rest of the clan around her, but rather in very casual clothing. Most notably was a dark turquoise leather jacket rolled up to her elbows. He noticed all alone her arms were dark blue and purple tattoos and what looked like strips of dark metal embedded in her forearms.

Kakashi briefly scanned the other clan heads around them. Most of them had not noticed the two of them. The ones that did eyed her with intense dislike – some with a hint of fear. He looked back at the girl. He was at a loss for words so chose to remain silent. This seemed to make her smile more.

She lifted a hand and gestured towards the scene he had been watching earlier. "That's Rye, if you were interested." Kakashi glanced back to Naruto and the red-headed fox from before. Movement form the girl brought his eyes back to her, she had poured him some wine.

"No thank you," was all he could manage to say.

She looked at him curiously. "Now where's the fun in that," she giggled again. Another arm gesture brought his attention across the hall to Ino and Sakura. Ino looked absolutely taken with a long, blonde haired handsome guy standing far off. He seemed to be caught up in staring at someone. Kakashi followed his gaze and saw that the young man seemed smitten with Hinata. Neji was standing next to Hinata eyeing the people around them menacingly.

"That blonde guy that your, um, blonde female is so enamoured with, is the Lion, Leo," as she struggled with his language Kakashi noticed her very subtle accent. Kakashi looked more intently at the man she called Leo. He could see similar tattoos to the ones on her arms around the back of Leo's neck. "The ever so charming Marcus is chatting with your pink haired friend, likely boring her to death. He is the bat, grandson of Corvine. That asshole over there," she pointed towards a dark haired guy with Kiba. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her language, "is the wolf, Howl."

Kakashi glanced around at all the men she had pointed out. They were all the same age as the young Ninja, but there was one missing. More movement next to him brought his attention back. She had evidently finished her own glass and taken up his as he was not drinking it. She began laughing this time as she looked in the direction of Hinata. Leo had finally gone over and was talking to her vehemently in close proximity. Neji looked angry and Ino looked heartbroken. The Copy-nin brought his attention back to the girl beside him, eyeing her with mild interest. She was no longer looking at him or the crowd of people but rather up toward the ceiling. He glanced the same way but saw nothing of interest besides some ornate artwork. Kakashi could hear barking from across the hall and he glanced over to see Akamaru being lovingly pet but a gaggle of girls in the colours of the Wolf clan.

As he watched Kiba begin flirting with one of the girls petting Akamaru, Kakashi noticed that who the mysterious girl had referred to earlier, Howl, was staring at them with an odd expression. It was almost possessive. Howl made no move to come over. He was startled into conversation by Shino. Howl likely hadn't noticed him before as Shino had silently followed Kiba to that section of the room.

Loud singing started from the buffet tables as the bear clan drank more. Kakashi heard the giggle of the girl to his right again. The Copy-nin looked at her with interest. He wanted her to talk more, but also had no idea who she was. He had a suspicion but wasn't positive. She also seemed uninterested in talking anymore and had, instead, become focused on filling her cup again. She made the briefest of gestures in another direction, indicating for Kakashi to look.

Kakashi watched as Sakura landed a hard punch on the Lion, sending him backwards a few feet. Kakashi began to stand, knowing all too well that that wasn't Sakura's full strength but events couldn't go any further. Before he got to stand a hand grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down into his seat. He looked at the girl who was still staring at Sakura with amusement in her eyes. "No harm done," was all she would say.

Kakashi looked back towards Sakura. Hinata was blushing furiously and couldn't make eye contact with anyone. Naruto was there comforting Hinata, which made Kakashi smile inwardly. It appeared Naruto had finally figured it out. Oddly, the pale complexioned Marcus was calming Sakura down. Ino was on the floor next to Leo helping him up while sending glares at Sakura. Neji was watching everything with a look of discomfort. Around them was a small crowd of assorted clansmen laughing in general amusement. It seemed no one found Sakura's behaviour insulting.

"Everyone is quite excited that you came. Or, the main 6 families are. Important cousins from across the country have gathered to witness these events," the girls' tone wasn't as amused anymore. "Hopefully we put on the show they want."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi looked at her with full interest. The act of grabbing him and forcing him back into his chair had caused her to sit in closer proximity. She smelt like vanilla. The Copy-nin was looking at her quite intensely. She began to blush and looked away. This confused him even more. He waited a while for her answer but she seemed to be done talking. Kakashi sensed malice again and he turned to see Godric walking in their direction with a look of annoyance on his face.

Kakashi turned back to the girl. She had also noticed the presence of Godric. Her face became impassive – there was no longer a hint of mischief in her eyes. Godric came to an abrupt stop behind her.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Here," she said simply. Kakashi noticed that she didn't even bother to look back at Godric.

Godric turned to Kakashi. "Has she been bothering you? Has she done anything?"

Kakashi stared at Godric in mild confusion. He seemed quite irate. Godric's hands were twisting behind the girl's back. The Copy-nin took his time in answering, studying the faces of Godric and the girl. Godric looked down at him with impatience. The girl just stared straight ahead while sipping at her wine. After a few moments passed Kakashi decided to test his company with a simple "No," before grabbing Icha Icha Tactics from his pocket and opening it to where he had last left off.

He wasn't actually going to read. He was just curious as to how either of them would react. Besides, she had not been bothering him and the relationship unfolding before him had put him a bit on edge. She had seemed cryptic with her last words and Godric's demeanor was off-putting for the mission.

Kakashi tried to remain as indifferent and impassive as possible, which was easy since more than half his face was covered by cloth. Their reactions were quite interesting. He could see a flicker of a smile on her lips and a challenging look in her eye. Godric just eyed him menacingly.

"Well, I suppose you introduced yourself then?" Godric said to the girl.

She turned her head slightly before saying something in another language. The language was consonant heavy and rough, but her voice was not. Her voice was lower than most women Kakashi had ever met. It was sultry. He didn't know what to think of her.

Godric quickly replied to her in the same language, placing a hand on her shoulder with fingers touching an exposed part of her neck. Kakashi could see out of the corner of his eye that Godric had meant it to be perceived as innocent but the force in which he grabbed her eluded otherwise. The tattoos on her arms seemed to shimmer a bit. Kakashi sensed chakra emanating from her and he glanced over more fully out of curiosity. Godric seemed to notice Kakashi's attentions and quickly removed his hand but not before Kakashi saw a small cloud or beam of light emanating from her shoulder into Godric's hand. The Copy-nin glanced back to the girls face. She betrayed no emotion but the copy-nin swore he saw a flash of colour in her eyes.

The party continued around them if there wasn't this little exchange in the corner. Kakashi eerily felt some eyes staring at them and casually glanced around the room before looking back at his book. All the spirit beast children were staring in their direction. Some, like Felix, Leo and Berwyn had a look of concern, while Marcus looked solemn and Howl had a hungry expression on his face.

Godric seemed to collect himself and moved back from the girl. "This is Iris. You've probably guessed who she is by now," he said before walking off to talk with the Wolf and Bat clan heads.

Kakashi wondered if Iris would stay next to him. She had shown no interest in the festivities besides watching from afar. Her glass of wine was empty again but she made no move to refill it. Kakashi tried to make it seem as if he were reading but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"You've been staring at the same page this entire time," Iris said blankly.

Kakashi considered what she said before talking. She had noticed. He tried not to let his eyes show his smile. "I'm a slow reader."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She moved to refill her cup with wine from a different bottle. She seemed to be considering a reply. Her eyes glanced over the side of the cover of the book he was reading as she was taking a sip. The side she was reading had a brief synopsis of the book on it. Kakashi felt heat rise to his cheeks, which was unusual. Kakashi watched her continue to drink while casually reading the synopsis – her face started to blush and she coughed a bit on the liquid.

Iris turned her head back to the room obviously trying to hide her embarrassment. For some reason this made Kakashi nervous.

"Not going to introduce yourself?" She was clearly trying to change the subject.

Kakashi looked up from his book, trying to play along and not let her know that he had seen her reaction. "Kakashi Hatake."

She stayed silent for some time, not looking at him. Kakashi stared at her with interest, hoping that his eyes didn't betray him. He couldn't stop staring at her flushed cheeks. This was getting inappropriate. Luckily, she hadn't yet realized he was even looking at her. She turned her head and lazily looked back at him. Her expression had changed again. Kakashi swore her eyes were swirling with pink. Iris seemed amused but was still trying to hide the blush from before by taking a big gulp of red wine.

"Do you always read porn at parties?" she asked.

The Copy-nin was slightly taken aback. His eyes widened a bit and he cursed himself for betraying his usually lazy demeanor. Iris clearly saw his reaction and smiled wickedly back at him. Before he had a chance to answer Sakura and Naruto approached and, having overheard, answered for him.

"Oh sensei, you're such a perv" Naruto said laughing.

"Don't mind him. Kakashi is a harmless old man," Sakura said, trying to reassure Iris.

"I wasn't offended," Irish replied. Her eyes widened a bit and her already alcohol induced rosy cheeks darkened. It seemed only Kakashi noticed though, Sakura just looked at her weirdly and Naruto seemed to have become entranced by her looks.

Sakura turned back to Kakashi and grabbed his book. Kakashi grabbed at it in futile effort. "We are representing Lady Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei. You can't read porn at a party!" She threw the book at his head hard but he lazily caught it before the impact. "We want to introduce you to those spirit men you told us about before the mission," she ended plainly.

Naruto was brought out of his reverie by the topic change. Excitement shining across his face, he exclaimed, "From what you said I expected monsters but they are just like me! Well not exactly. That Leo guy hits on anything that moves. He's like Kiba but worse."

Kakashi watched Iris roll her eyes and laugh a little. Sakura was staring at her cautiously. She looked from Iris back to Kakashi with weird interest. "Who is this, Kakashi-sensei?"

Iris turned her head expectantly in his direction. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and slid the book back into his pouch pocket. He felt weird when she looked at him.

"She's the dragon," came a rough voice from behind Naruto. They all looked back and it was the wolf boy, Howl. Naruto smiled and waved him in while Sakura glanced back at Iris with new interest. Kakashi watched the newcomer saunter around the table and sit next to Iris. Howl didn't take his eyes off her the entire time. Howl moved his chair closer to her in such a way that it allowed his knees to brush her exposed leg occasionally. Kakashi glanced at Iris's face to gage the relationship here. Her face had gone as impassive as it was when Godric was behind her, but instead of staying silent she said "My name is Iris," in the direction of Sakura and Naruto.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks, clearly feeling the change in dynamic. So far everyone they had met from the other clans had been very nice and kind. Even Howl had been nice to them, who at first seemed rough around the edges like Kiba but quiet and menacing, like Sasuke. They had instinctively avoided the dragon side of the room as most of the dragon clansmen and women had stayed back to watch the events rather than participate. They both looked at Kakashi for explanation. The Copy-nin greeted their gaze with a casual shrug.

Howl moved to pour Iris and him more wine. In his movements he bent over her in a way that allowed for direct body contact between their legs and arm. Her eyes glanced at him in what can only be construed as utter disgust. Howl noticed and bent to whisper something in her ear in their native language. Iris's expression briefly flashed both shame and fear before she found her composure again. Kakashi could feel the same chakra sensation as before when Godric had placed his hand on Iris's shoulder. This time he definitely saw little strands of chakra emanating from the spots where Howl made direct contact with her. They were flowing from her to him.

Iris was looking at Kakashi with intensity. He definitely saw it this time. Her eyes rotated colours. She seemed to comprehend that Kakashi was aware of the movement of chakra. He watched her as she looked up to Naruto and Sakura to see whether they had become aware. They hadn't as they had been joined by another one of the beasts, Marcus, who was not only distracting the two, but eyeing the situation between Howl and Iris with concern. This seemed to cause Iris to come to a decision. She pushed herself away from Howl and got up to walk away. Halfway between standing and sitting she went to grab her wine glass. The movement caused her to awkwardly bend around Howl and lose her balance. She faltered back far enough that her hand went to steady itself on the nearest surface. It just so happened that Kakashi's hand was already placed there.

Iris's touch made Kakashi feel the most pleasurable surge of energy course from her hand into his. It caused him to ache with desire for her. Iris seemed stuck where she was. Her eyes were wide and staring at him. The feeling from the chakra surge changed and images ran through his mind so fast that he couldn't make sense of them. He heard the breath catch in Iris's throat and Marcus pulled her hand away. Naruto and Sakura were looking at them all curiously. Howl looked both amused and angry. Marcus quickly dropped Iris's hand and motioned for her to move somewhere else.

Kakashi just sat there trying to process what had just happened. It seemed no one else but Marcus, Howl and Iris had witnessed it. His gaze shot up to see where she went but couldn't find her in the crowd of people. Kakashi wondered if what had just happened was the reason for the weird contact initiated by both Howl and Godric. If so, why didn't it happen when she grabbed his arm to pull him from standing. Something was going on here that they hadn't divulged to the Hokage, but Kakashi wasn't even sure what he would pass on either.

"I'm truly sorry about that, sir," Marcus addressed him. "Iris is a bit…." He mulled over the words, "peculiar."

"What just happened, sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing, she's just shy," was Marcus's reply, "You'd better get your fill of the food since the tournament will start soon." He motioned towards the buffet table and ushered them in that direction.

Kakashi was still overwhelmed by the foreign chakra that had entered his system. He wanted to be alone to make sense of the images. He heard a creak as Howl got up from his chair and walked behind him. As Howl was leaving he bent down and whispered so that no one else could here "Don't do that again," before walking off towards his clan.

Kakashi glared at the back of Howl as he walked away. What was going on? Suddenly, the music stopped and everyone's attention was brought to the middle of the room. Corvine stood there smiling happily at everyone, completely unaware of what had just transpired.

"I hope that everyone has had time to become properly acquainted. We will now be separating our lovely guests to the tournament grounds. You all know where you can watch, and you all know why you can't come," he said the last words with just a hint of seriousness. "If our guests would follow me please."

Kakashi rose from his chair and followed in Corvines footsteps. His comrades were trickling out as well after saying goodbye to some. The Copy-nin noticed that the 5 young men Iris had pointed out earlier were following them as well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes from The Author:**

Hope you guys are hooked :)

I do not own Naruto.

**Chapter 4**

The group was ushered through giant hallways and down a large set of stairs. The trip took about 20 minutes but they had never once left a building. Kakashi noticed that they were going down and that the new halls were absent of windows. There was a distinct humming coming from the walls and ritualistic patterns were everywhere. The young ninja behind him, and Gai, were caught up in the excitement of the tournament. Naruto, Lee and Kiba were vehemently asking Felix and Howl about the details of the tournament but they were getting very little information from the two. Felix seemed to show the same competitiveness as Naruto and Lee, which helped Kakashi determine that they were actually going to a tournament.

However, Kakashi was concerned. Not once had they seen any of the foreigners fight before. They had all been told and shown by some that they used jewelry or weapons that contained different types of chakra to fight but he suspected that there was more to it than that.

They had come to a massive set of iron doors covered in the same ritualistic patterns all over the floor and walls. The ninja stood in awe as the doors swung open and a massive room was illuminated beyond. Corvine walked in and they all followed. It was similar to the battle room used in the preliminary matches of the Chunin exam, just larger. There were stairs up to viewing platforms around the edges of the arena. In the middle of the room stood the other clan-heads and Iris. Iris stood apart from the men and had a hard look on her face. Unlike before the sleeves of her jacket were rolled down.

The wolf clan head beamed at them as they approached. "Now the excitement begins! I'll do the explaining from here Corvine."

"Yes, I suppose having the head of the army explain a tournament makes more sense than a scientist," he laughed.

Kakashi looked between the two men before stating, "You don't just function as clan leaders?"

Caball looked at him, amused. "I guess we haven't really explained ourselves at all. The 6 major clans have the last say in all matters. We are the high council but we don't just function as leaders in politics. Each of the clan has an ancient heritage from before the civil war. The wolves are the warriors, the lions are our artists, bears are the merchant craftsmen, the bat clan are our beloved scientists in both medicine and otherwise," he paused for a moment while looking at Godric. " the dragons are our…"

"Assassins," Godric finished. "And the fox clan are the fools."

The head of the fox clan looked at him viciously before regaining composure and laughing. "I am sorry, Godric struggles with your language. What he meant to say was the fox clan is the social glue to our society."

"They plan the parties," Caball finished with a smirk. "Anyways, now that you know about us we would like to have a formal introduction and then we will move on to explaining the tournament. Please highlight skills, or details that you deem important to yourself."

The Shinobi just awkwardly stood around, waiting for someone else to go first. The silence hung in the air before Marcus started to speak. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves first to make them feel more comfortable. Although most of us have already met we want to formally announce each person to the audience."

Kakashi looked around the room but could see no other people besides the group on the main floor. He scrutinized the corners and noticed a series of cameras spaced out intermittently. He realized the meaning of Iris's words now. They were on display. They were entertainment.

Marcus cleared his throat as all eyes were on him. "I guess I'll go first then. I am Marcus, warrior of the bat. Event hough I am classified as a warrior, I do not enjoy sparring. I particularly like medicine," he stopped speaking abruptly. Marcus was a pale, raven haired young man whose eyes were soft. He looked like Sasuke or Sai but more approachable. He seemed uncomfortable with the crowd. Kakashi could see why Sakura had gotten along with him so well. Especially since his interest was medicine.

Corvine motioned for one of the ninja to begin. Kakashi watched as they all looked at each other helplessly, or with indifference (Neji, Shikamaru and Shino). Kakashi let out an audible sigh. It was unlike them all to be so shy. Before he could start Gai furiously jumped up in front. "Where is the courage of youth! I am Might Gai of Konoha. I am a jounin ranked ninja whose power is only secondary to his good looks," he winked at his audience. Ino and Sakura stifled embarrassed groans.

Seeing his sensei take such a stand Lee ran up behind him and began his introduction. "I am Rock Lee, a Chunin of Konoha. I hope to one day surpass Gai-sensei with the power of youth!" Sakura and Ino audibly laughed as Lee finished his introduction. Kakashi scanned the faces of the Clyvaens. Most were amused. Leo and Tau looked on in disgust. His eyes briefly caught Iris's and he saw only amusement there.

"Can we hurry this up," said Howl, looking impatient and hungry for battle.

"Yes, I think it best if we quicken our pace. I am Kakashi Hatake, Leaf Jonin. From left to right following me are Neji Hyuga, his cousin Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and his fighting companion Akamaru, Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Tenten of team Gai, and Naruto Uzumaki the hero of Konohagakaru." Kakashi lazily drawled off everyone's names despite the irritated stare of more than one of the clan heads.

"Ah yes, but what about an identifying quality, hmm?" urged Corvine. Kakashi's lazy eyes met Corvines. It seems like they really were entertainment.

With a sigh Kakashi stated, "I hate tempura." Sakura and Naruto laughed behind him.

"Your identifying quality is your pervy books, sensei!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi ignored him and let his eyes wander around the room before looking at Iris again. However, what he saw there was not humor but concern. She didn't seem to be paying attention to the events around her and instead was rubbing her arms nervously.

"Let them do this when the battle starts Corvine," said Godric. He began to take charge of the situation, patience evidently gone. "We will start with the wolf clan, followed by the Bear, Lion, Fox, Bat and Dragon. In that order." He stressed. "They will wait on the floor for a challenger from your side and stay till they are beaten. We understand that you often fight in teams which will also be allowed."

"What's the purpose?" Kakashi eyed the clansmen with authority.

Godric stared at Kakashi for a minute before answering. "We asked for your help in containing their power. Before we entrust them to your village we have to be sure that there are Ninja there who can beat them. Who ever defeats them will be responsible for them. If you can not defeat them, then they do not go." His eyes drifted to Iris as he ended his speech. Kakashi looked at her. Her head was down and her hands were shaking. He didn't know who was going to battle her, but she didn't look like a warrior. If anything, there was danger of causing her a lot of harm.

"Do not hold back," said Caball as if reading Kakashi's mind. "Let's begin!"


	5. Chapter 5

Notes from the Author:

I split up what was Chapter 4 to break the story up into more manageable parts. Hopefully the last chapter wasn't too short!

I'll try to get more up soon- provided that this is all received well.

I'm not too good with narrating a fight scene, so be nice :P

**Chapter 5**

Howl stood in the center of the tournament grounds, a smirk on his face. He had been standing there for five minutes as the group had gone up to the rafters to watch. Kakashi was surprised that not even Naruto had made an extravagant gesture of power and rushed into the sparring match. It might have had something to do with the fact that none of them knew how the soldiers of Clyvaen fought, let alone the spirit beast children.

"Do we get a bit of info before hand," Kakashi asked loudly, hoping for an answer.

Corvine contemplated this for a while. "They do not know much about your fighting styles either. We made sure to keep them from finding out any information on any of you." He paused for a moment, gazing down a Howl. "He summons wolves sometimes," was all he would add.

The group contemplated this for a while before Kiba shouted "Alright guess I'll show you cowards, right Akamaru!" and jumped into the arena with his dog friend.

Howl looked at Kiba with a vicious smile. "Alright, friend," he placed a weird emphasis on the word friend before dark red energy swirls started emanating from his body.

Kiba looked startled by the show of power but stood his ground. He seemed to think that the quicker the fight ended the better and quickly performed "Human Beast Mimicry."

Howl was now met with the stare of two vicious Kibas. Kakashi noticed that Howl didn't seem to be expecting that. Howl faltered a bit. As he did so Kakashi felt a wavering in his power. Howl made a motion to grab a pair of ornate daggers that were sheathed by his ankles.

"Need those to use power huh, that'll be easy!" Kiba and Akamaru lunged aggressively at Howl, finally initiating the fight. Howl seemed take off guard by the proximity and spent most of his efforts trying to back away. Just as it seemed Kiba or Akamaru were about to get a hit in Howl jumped back and disappeared as a howling sound rippled through the room. The double Kiba's stared about the room in concern.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Kakashi," Gai said. Kakashi turned to him and saw all his companions watching the fight with smiles.

"Isn't it obvious, Gai. None of them are close range." The Clyvaens were on the opposing platform watching the fight. They didn't seem at all concerned. "This doesn't mean we can get cocky."

Naruto looked at his sensei. "How will they beat us if they can't do hand to hand."

"Just watch and learn quickly" was all Kakashi would say.

There was a cry of pain from Kiba as a shadow in the shape of a wolf roughly bit him out of nowhere. The arena floor seemed to fill instantly with howling, shadowing forms of wolves running around Kiba and Akamaru. From what Kakashi could tell the bite was deep.

"How will Kiba tell where he is?" Sakura asked to no one, entranced by the show below.

Kakashi wondered this himself. He was tempted to use the Sharingan to watch but doing so might expose to much to the enemy.

Kiba and Akamaru backed away from the dusty shadows encircling them. Kiba seemed to be thinking hard about a course of action before deciding to drop smoke bombs on the arena. Kakashi laughed as he remembered back to Kiba and Naruto during the Chunin exam.

The fight ended rather quickly after this. With a loud "fang over fang" howl was roughly tossed across the arena and landed motionless on the floor. Half of Howl's body shimmered in and out of shadows as he lay there. Kakashi noticed he only had one of his daggers left.

There was a cheer from the young ninjas as Kiba triumphantly ran over to Howl to make sure the match was done. Corvine seemed to appear out of nowhere beside the pair. "Ah, it seems that went quicker than expected. May we ask how you found him? Although he can't control it naturally he is able to shift in and out of dust particles."

Kiba just looked at him blankly at first before a goofy smile stretched across his face. "I don't know what that means but everyone smells and the Inuzuka clan has the best nose in Konoha."

Naruto laughed from the platform. "It's not always a good thing!"

Kakashi looked at those across from him. Most of them looked impressed but the Wolf head looked ashamed. It seems they didn't think it would happen so quickly.

"Kiba come back up here and I'll heal you!" yelled Ino and Sakura together. They looked at each other and blushed. Kiba just grinned and hopped back up to the platform saying it was just a scratch. Corvine seemed to have revived Howl who stood up with a very angry look on his face.

"Well, the first match is over. It seems that the Shinobi of Konoha named Kiba will be our Howl's guardian and chakra control teacher in Konoha." Exclaimed a happy Corvine. "Everything is quite the success today!"

While Corvine was ushering a very bruised Howl back up to the platform there was a loud thud as Berwyn jumped down to the platform.

"To speed things up," the young bears voice boomed throughout the arena. "I will tell you what I do." He seemed to struggle with the language more so than the others. Kakashi laughed to himself as he thought this guy is probably all brute strength. "Send your strongest."

The shinobi all began arguing at who was the strongest of them all. Lee was adamantly stating that he was the strongest while Choji was already trying to head down to the arena. Berwyn was evidently getting ready before a challenger even appeared. There was a giant outburst of chakra power and his arms seemed to grow fur. Kakashi watched as the young man slowly transformed it some hybrid man-bear. He could sense the concentration of chakra in Berwyn's arms and legs. If anyone got hit by those they'd be knocked out cold, if not worse.

"Wait everyone," Kakashi said turning to Sakura. Sakura was staring down at the bear man with intensity.

"Yes, everyone. I think I am the only one capable of this." Sakura stated and hopped down.

"Forehead!" Ino shouted after her in concern.

The Clyvaens across the room looked at her in surprise. Leo rubbed his jaw and laughed. "If you hit him like you hit me you won't get anywhere!"

"Don't underestimate Sakura!" shouted Naruto. "She is stronger than our Lady Hokage!"

Kakashi chuckled as Naruto defended his friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note:

Again the fighting stuff- still just a few more chapters of this. I really prefer social aspects of these stories so after this there will really be a major focus on that.

Enjoy:)

* * *

Chapter 6

The room was quiet as Sakura stood facing Berwyn in the arena. Neither of them had moved yet. The clan heads were watching Sakura curiously. Godric turned to Corvine and said something in their language. Corvine nodded while looked at Howl.

He raised a hand, Berwyn looked up and his body relaxed. The Shinobi looked down from one another curiously.

"What's going on, why hasn't the fight started!" Yelled Naruto.

"Godric has made a good point. Howl was taken out fairly easily." Corvine paused as if considering what to say next. "We will have to deal with this eventually. Luckily Howl's problem isn't being overwhelmed by the beast but in how to access him." Next to him Godric made a grave face.

Kakashi watched Corvine and Auberon walk down to where Berwyn was standing.

"It only makes sense that we have them fight with the power that might overcome them while you Shinobi help them." As Auberon and Corvine approached the young bear, Berwyn removed his shirt, exposing his massive chest underneath.

Ino gasp quietly. The rest of the Shinobi watched in wonder. Berwyn's chest was entirely covered in dark red tattoos in a pattern that mirrored the ritualistic markings on the floors and ceilings. Some more solid markings shimmered. Corvine pulled out a small, circular black disk and held it in one hand while his other went to what appeared to be the center of the tattoos. Auberon braced Berwyn from the back. Corvine said something rough in his other language. The red tattoos on Berwyn glowed and seemed to pulsate. The young man let out a soft grunt of pain. All at once the solid shimmering bits which had not moved with the tattoos fell to the ground leaving bear skin behind as the tattoos seemingly faded to nothing. Corvine and Auberon quickly grabbed the disks, which sounded like metal clanging together, and walked back up to the viewing platform.

"What did you just do?" Sakura asked cautiously backing away from Berwyn. Berwyn was still bent over as if in a lot of pain.

"First, maybe an introduction for our clansmen watching at home?" Corvine replied with a fake smile.

Kakashi and his companions eyed the events unfolding before them with concern. Kakashi glanced around the room to study the faces of the clansmen across from him. His eyes caught Iris's who looked at him knowingly. An image flashed across his Sharingan even though it was closed behind his forehead protector. He could only make out a dark room filled with 6 young figures contorting in pain.

"I am Sakura Haruno, apprentice to our Lady Hokage. I am primarily a medic-nin." She paused watching Berwyn in front of her. "Does he need help?"

"What is a medical ninja going to do in a fight?" Felix asked the Shinobi across from him. Kakashi had yet to even talk to this member of the spirit beats. He didn't seem unfriendly. His words were more out of curiosity than anything else.

None of the Shinobi answered. They all just stared down a Berwyn with caution and concern. No one had answered Sakura either. Berwyn let out another grunt of pain as he tried to stand. Sakura's caring nature kicked in and she started walking to him out of concern. A giant pulse of massive chakra emanated from Berwyn as he stood. A low chuckle rumbled from his throat. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

"What the-" was all Sakura could say before the bear lunged at her.

Sakura skillfully avoided Berwyn. He was clearly powerful but he was not very fast. As a medical ninja Sakura's other skills lied in evasion.

The younger male Clyvaens were watching Sakura with amusement, talking lowly to each other in their language. Berwyn seemed to get more and more frustrated with each attempt at catching the Kunochi. Finally he stopped in his tracks. Power surged from his center. His naked upper half seemed to ripple while his body transformed more and more into a beast.

"Is that really him?" Choji said. "He seemed so different before…"

The room could feel Berwyn's love of killing in the air. As the room watched he began his tirade of physical lunges again- this time with far more speed and viciousness than before.

"He's actually like a real bear," whispered Ino.

Naruto and Lee both jumped up at the same time in support for their comrade. "Sakura! Show him what you got!"

The Kunochi had been watching his movements intensely as she evaded his attacks. He was getting closer and closer to actually landing a hit. His attacks were becoming less predictable and more animalistic. Sakura started charging chakra into her right fist – getting ready to land a punch. Berwyn seemed to sense the oncoming attack and instead of swiping at her he used the full force of his massive chest to slam her back.

Sakura flew backwards with the contact letting out a cry of pain. Berwyn's power continued to grow. The ground below him seemed to crack with the weight of his steps. Sakura was trying to pull herself up. It looked as if her ribs had been broken from the impact. This wasn't looking good.

Berwyn charged at Sakura again. She had not had enough time to recover. As the bear was about to make contact a voice filled the room, "Flying Leaf Hurricane!" Berwyn was thrust backwards – hit the adjacent wall and reduced it to rubble.

"You can't DO THAT LEE" screamed Naruto and Felix together.

"I can not stand by while my lady is in trouble." Lee turned back to Sakura and winked. Sakura groaned in embarrassment as she began to heal her ribs.

The clan heads began talking in their own language again. Godric seemed angrier than the rest but Kakashi didn't think he got his way in their discussion.

"We will allow for the team to be formed right now." Corvine said to the room. "However, next battle they must announce whether or not it will be a team effort before the fight starts."

Kakashi was getting fed up with the clan heads but it wasn't his position to interfere yet. So far none of them were in immediate danger. Sakura was fine and now that Lee was down there they could likely beat the bear. The pulsating chakra grew again as Berwyn stood up – his face contorted in anger. He slammed his arms down causing numerous cracks to ripple forth.

"Ready Sakura?" Lee said to his companion.

"Hai" Sakura ran one way while Lee seemed to disappear with speed in the other.

The room watched in silence as the battle continued below. Even with Berwyn's immense strength his speed was nothing in comparison to Lees. Lee was able to knock him around a bunch before Berwyn got lucky enough to bear hug the Shinobi into a vice-grip. Lee screamed out in pain and Berwyn laughed in triumph.

"Not so fast," was all Berwyn heard as Sakura's chakra infused fist made contact with the bears side. There was a loud crunch as the room heard ribs breaking. Berwyn stumbled to the side – releasing lee as he fell. Sakura took this chance to slam a chakra infused kick across his midsection successfully breaking whatever remaining ribs he had left intact. Berwyn let out a cry of pain as he collapsed onto the ground, unmoving. The powerful chakra they had felt before disappeared as the bear went unconscious.

Naruto and Ino let out a series of cheers for their friends. Gai smiled, yelling about the power of youth while the other Shinobi looked down proudly at their comrades.

"Excellent, Excellent," Corvine said smiling as he ushered down to the three. Auberon was right behind him holding the metal pieces from before. "Give them here Auberon. It's probably better while he is unconscious."

"What are you doing to him?" Sakura asked stepping closer to watch.

"These devices were made to restrain their beasts sides." Corvine said. He was busily placing the metal pieces where they had been before while whispering in another language again. Dark red swindling light swirled out from the middle of Berwyns chest and latched onto the metal pieces. They pulled them harshly down into the skin. A bit of blood dripped from each spot. "We don't have a natural affinity to chakra, you see. So when these lovely soldiers were born we didn't know how to teach them the techniques needed. The power was too overwhelming for them, we had to do this for the safety of the people."

Naruto glared down at the room angrily. Kakashi walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He leant over and quietly said "The best thing we can do is get them out of here by playing this game of theirs. Once in Konoha we might be able to change things." Naruto nodded at him thoughtfully. Kakashi was surprised at how much Naruto had grown. Before he never would have thought that Naruto would quietly watch injustice. But the former loudmouth understood that there was a time and a place.

Sakura watched as Berwyn's body was covered in the same markings as before. She noticed he was having very labored breathing. Corvine and Auberon watched her curiously as she knelt down beside the man and began spreading her healing jutsu across the young mans chest. "I think a rib punctured one of his lungs. Is there a medical facility he could be taken to?"

As Sakura was talking Marcus had hopped down to kneel next to her. He studied Berwyns injuries with his hands before murmuring under his breath. Blue light cascaded onto Berwyn's chest and his breath became slow and normal. "No need, lady Sakura," he said as he walked back up to the platform. Sakura stared after him in disbelief.

Auberon, with a remarkable show of power, lifted Berwyn on his shoulders and carried him back up to the platform where he unceremoniously dropped him near Howl. Howl snorted in derision as he glanced as his unconscious cousin.

"Now," Corvine said while ushering Sakura and Lee back up to the platform. "If we could continue, Leo please come down here."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Leo stood in the customary starting position. His markings had similarly been removed with what looked like a lot more pain than Berwyn had undergone. It appeared that he had had more metal disks implanted across his torso and arms than Berwyn. Leo looked up at the Ninja with a smile, winking at Hinata who blushed furiously. The shinobi could feel the power building up. It was harsher than Berwyns had been.

The shinobi considered the new opponent wondering what kind of a fighter he would be. Neji was looking down at him with intense dislike. His byakugan was active and he was staring at Leo, gaging the development of chakra. "Lady Hinata, I think it best if you and I tackle this fight." Hinata looked at him surprised. "I only say this because we do not know what they are expecting but from the way his Chakra is moving I think it best if the Hyuga clan deal with this."

Kakashi wondered if that were true. He probably wanted to keep his eye on the Lion while he was in Konoha.

Hinata quietly agreed and followed her cousin down to the arena.

"If you would please introduce yourselves," reminded Corvine from above.

"Neji Hyuga and Hinata Hygua of the Hygua clan," was all Neji said before getting into his battle stance. Hinata followed his lead.

Leo was an open book of emotions. He was clearly enamored with Hinata and hated Neji. The two hyuga's byakugan bore through the Lion in front and watched his chakra grow. Hinata looked worried while Neji's face remained stoic.

Leo let out a series of high pitched giggles and seemingly split into a crowd of copies. Some of the copies eyes became catlike while others transformed into physical Lions. They started running around, stalking their prey.

Neji and Hinata glared their all-seeing eyes at every one of the copies but could not see a difference. Neji watched as each catlike apparition seemed to both be overcome with power and have no power at the same time. This didn't make sense. Some of the copies lunged at Neji but he parried blow for blow while landing a few attacks of his own. Hinata was doing the same thing on her side but the copies didn't seem as vicious with her.

As Neji decided to start moving forward and attack them with his Eight Tigrams attack, but two of the full lion copies lunged forward and grabbed each of his arms biting deeply. As he was pinned in one spot one of the copies shouted with delight, clearly the real Leo. He ran up to Neji with cat-like speed but Hinata had moved in for his defense with her own Twin Lion Fists. Leo narrowly avoided her attack while swiping back at her. Neji took this opportunity to get free and perform Sixty-Four Palms on Leo he had identified as the original. As each hit was landing the room could feel Leo's power waning. The fight had been won. However, just as Neji landed the last of his hit Leo smirked and spit a small fireball at his enemy. Neji quickly avoided it as Leo fell down in defeat.

Hinata cried out in pain. The fireball that Neji had avoided had grown in size as it plummeted across the room. She had mostly gotten out of the way but her leg still managed to take a hit. Neji quickly left Leo lying in a heap on the floor as he ran to Hinata's side.

"Are you alright?"

"It's just a little burn" she winced.

Sakura was down there in a second healing the wound. "It should be fine, its not a deep burn."

Corvine and Tau were already on the arena floor putting the metal bits back into Leos body. In eagerness the next fighter jumped down and pointed at Naruto.

"Let's test our strength!" Felix laughingly shouted. Naruto smiled and hopped down to join. Tau removed Leo from the arena and Corvine moved to remove Felix's markings. As he did so Felix seeming transformed immediately on the spot. His eyes became vicious and cunning. His fingers seemed to elongate and become sharp claws. Corvine eyed him wearily while moving away quickly.

Naruto felt the rise in power from his friend. He had decided at the beginning that when his turn came to battle he would show the clan heads that they were not wrong in their choice. He was going to show them how he mastered the techniques to control the Kyubi. The room watched as Naruto's figure changed and he took on the nine-tails chakra mode.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki! I have full control over the beast sealed inside of me!" he yelled. Naruto pointed up at the clan heads. "I will train all of them in how to do this so that they no longer have to feel the pain of your decisions."

"Well, this will be over in a minute" Shikamaru stated lazily.

Felix watched Naruto with wide eyes. The Clyvaens were all looking at Naruto in astonishment. Iris was staring at him with hope on her face. Kakashi stared at her without realizing it. Another image flashed across his hidden sharingan. This time it was of flames and he could vaguely hear screaming. The fighting had started and stopped before Kakashi could even look back down at the arena. Naruto hadn't wasted a beat.

Felix was crumpled in the middle of the room unconscious.

"What just happened," Ino said to Sakura.

"He's just too fast now," was all Sakura said in reply.

Kakashi watched the reactions of the Clyvaens across from him. The look that he had seen on the beast warriors faces was not reflected in the clan heads. Some looked a tiny bit fearful while Corvine and Godric looked hungry for power. Kakashi didn't think that they wanted their hidden weapons to gain control for the protection of the people. He would have to report this all to the Hokage as soon as possible.

Felix was taken back up to the viewing platform and placed next to the others while his markings were replaced. Naruto glared back up at the Clan heads before returning to the platform. He hoped that he had gotten his message across.

"I suppose it's my turn," Marcus took his shirt off so that his clan head could remove the metal bits. He barely uttered a sound as so many of the devices were removed. He had the most so far. Marcus settled down onto the arena floor. The atmosphere in the room had changed dramatically. It felt icy cold.

Marcus barely moved but waves of utter malice flew off of him. His face was contorted in concentration. He was clearly trying to keep control over himself.

None of the shinobi made a move for a few moments. All considering the scene before them. None of the fighters before had emanated the same wrath. Ino stifled a chill.

Shino was the first to move down. Kiba smiled, knowing that if Shino had determined he could win then there was likely no chance for Marcus.

Kakashi watched Marcus with seriousness before looking at Iris. She was staring at him, her sleeves rolled up, and her eyes fully aglow. He noticed that the disks had already been removed from her arms. Is that why she was shuddering earlier? She pointedly looked back at Marcus with concern. Kakashi followed her gaze and what he saw was horrifying. Marcus had almost all but transformed into something grotesque. Shino was watching him impassively.

Marcus had altered so drastically in a matter of a few seconds and still seemed to be struggling to remain in control. He looked up at Shino. Marcus's eyes were entirely black. His skin had begun to shift colours from pale white into a grotesque black. Long fangs protruded from his mouth. This is where it stopped for now but it was clear Marcus was holding back.

Before either Shino or Marcus made a move Marcus simply said "That won't work."

Shino briefly looked shocked as his bugs flew out from his body in attack but before they could make it to their target they dropped dead in midair. Before Shino had time to consider his next move he was flung across the arena by an invisible foe and left unconscious.

The Shinobi just stared down in horror at Marcus. He hadn't moved. Marcus was shuddering slightly in place. Sakura quickly ran down and removed Shino from the arena to heal him. The rest of her comrades stared down in trepidation. The malice in the room was palpable. Kakashi considered the scene before him.

Naruto cursed under his breath. Damning himself for fighting Felix before. Clearly Marcus was a force to be reckoned with.

Kakashi wondered if the order they had established was for a reason. Each new fighter had had more black devises embedded in their skin than the last. He remembered how many were just on Iris's arms. Kakashi looked back toward Iris who was staring at Marcus intently. Kakashi noted that she no longer seemed to be trembling. Her hair was blowing a bit around her but there was no wind in the room.

Marcus stopped trembling for a minute while he looked up at all the Shinobi. His face was filled with bloodlust. "Next," he uttered savoring the words while eyeing up all the Ninja. No one made a move.

Shikamaru turned to Kakashi "How do you think he knew about Shino's bugs?"

Kakashi looked at the young genius. Shikamaru's hands were in his famous thinking position. Ino and Choji were eyeing him in horror knowing that he planned to go down there.

"You can't Shikamaru," Ino cried. "He's too strong."

Shikamaru turned to Ino wearily. "Somebody has to. Besides, I wont be alone." It took a few moments for Choji and Ino to understand what he meant before they adamantly refused. "Don't worry, it's a drag but I have a plan. I just need you all there too."

The respect and confidence they had in their teammate was evident as they followed him down to the arena. Kakashi briefly saw Hinata wince as they walked past her. Before he could motion for Sakura to come see if Hinata was wounded Hinata screamed.

Marcus hung from the ceiling only a few feet from Hinata. He was salivating. His body contorted and shuddering. His eyes filled with hunger. He was laughing maniacally while smelling the air and crawling quickly toward Hinata. Everyone was frozen in shock. Marcus looked like a being of nightmares. He was screaming blood over and over. Kakashi looked and there was a small, patch of blood coming through on Hinata's sleeve. Marcus continued to get faster and faster while approaching her. None of the shinobi moved. The malice and fear of the sight before them had them frozen in place. As Marcus dropped down to grab Hinata Iris suddenly appeared and pushed him back.

Kakashi went to move and grab Hinata from the scene unfolding in front of them but a barrier stopped him. Iris had backed up into Hinata never taking her eyes off Marcus. Kakashi tried to make sense of what was before him. Iris had changed. Her eyes were flashing through every colour in existence. She looked furious. Her skin had also begun to take on different colours but instead of it swirling they looked like scales.

Marcus was losing control. He frantically looked around the room for another victim. As he moved to land on their platform again Iris vanished and reappeared behind him. She grabbed him by the neck and threw him towards the ground. The room shuddered as he made contact, rubble flying around him.

Godric yelled something at her but she ignored him. Kakashi couldn't believe the amount of power this girl was emanating.

Iris looked down at Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. "Finish this quickly." Her voice seemed to be torn in two. There was the hint of the girlish voice from before but underneath it was something deep, dark and malicious. She turned her head back toward Sakura and motioned for her to heal Hinata.

In this time Marcus had crawled out of the rubble and was staring up at Iris. His eyes screamed with murderous intentions but he made no move to attack her. His attentions were still up with the platform before he turned back towards his opponents.

Ino backed away as if wanting to run. Shikamaru nodded to Choji and with a look of determination they launched their attack. Choji rolled at Marcus who easily evaded. As he moved Shikamaru managed to catch him in his shadow possession jutsu.

"Ino now!"

Ino faltered while Marcus stared her down. Marcus was struggling to move and it was evident that Shikamaru couldn't hold him for long.

"INO!"

"Mind Transfer Jutsu." Ino flung herself at Marcus before Shikamaru's jutsu failed. The room waited in silence.

Marcus let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"INO?" Shikamaru yelled at his friend.

Ino released the jutsu and collapsed into her own body. Marcus stood up laughing.

"Can't handle the mind of a monster, dear?" He started walking towards them.

It was Choji who ended it. Blue wings behind him as he landed his most powerful expansion jutsu on Marcus. Choji hit him as hard as he could. There was a loud crack as the hit landed. After the dust had cleared Marcus was left in a heap on the floor. Corvine had already rushed down to the young man and begun re-attaching the metal bits.

Corvine had a strange look on his face as he sent Marcus back up to the platform. Marcus was covered in blood and it was clear his legs were broken but no one moved to heal him.

"What was that!?" Shouted Sakura in disbelief.

"That is why we invented what we did dear girl."

The shinobi just stared at the Clyvaens in horror.

* * *

Kakashi watched as Iris took her position in the centre of the arena. Corvin hesitatingly approached her, which confused the Copy-nin. Hadn't they already removed all her disks? Corvine looked up at Godric for approval before motioning for Iris to remove her jacket.

"No." she said simply.

Godric chose to speak his next words so that everyone could understand them. "You will. We need to know if they can subdue it in its fury in case their training breaks the seal."

Iris stared back at him and slowly removed the jacket. Her face showed her fear. Her back was bare. Ino and Sakura gasped. Kakashi stared down at her in pity. The girl was almost covered in the markings and disks. Barely an inch of her back showed real skin. Corvin began removing them and she cried out in pain. Kakashi didn't like where this was going. If she had demonstrated so much power against Marcus before how much did she actually have.

As the last of the metal pieces fell away Corvine practically ran up the stairs to stand beside Godric. Iris stood panting in the center of the arena. Her skin rippled as it changed before them. Scales sprouted up and she grunted with the pain. Kakashi knew that he was the only one able to do this fight besides Naruto. He selfishly wanted to steal the girl away from this awful place.

Kakashi lazily hopped down into the arena. His comrades watched him in concern. Kakashi lifted his headpiece and opened his sharingan. Iris lifted her head to greet him but what he saw was not the girl from before. This was a monster.

She didn't wait a second before viciously coming at him. She wasn't just attacking him with hands but her skin was both aflame and ice cold at the same time. Kakashi's sharingan allowed him to scrape by without a scratch. Iris, or the monster, backed off quickly as none of her physical attacks hit. Kakashi's mind raced with options. He watched her face trying to determine his method of attack. Her eyes shifted from colour to colour before stopping on red. Kakashi felt the world disappear around him.

Was this genjutsu?

Sakura screamed as she watched the female lunge viciously at her sensei.

"Kakashi MOVE!" but her sensei didn't move. The dragon made contact but instead of splitting the Copy-nin in two he disappeared with a pop. Iris stared at where he had been with confusion. Her eyes shifted to a different yellow. Before she could see him Kakashi had crawled swiftly out of the debris from an earlier fight and performed the fireball jutsu. Iris jumped above the flame and launched herself at the real Kakashi. Instead of launching into physical attacks again she started throwing elemental bombs at the Copy-nin. He avoided them all with skill and was about to make a counter attack when Iris appeared behind him and grabbed onto his exposed arms

Kakashi froze as he felt his energy sucked from his body. He tried to pull away but couldn't as all his strength left him. Her fingers stuck in deeper puncturing the skin. Thinking quickly Kakashi used his remaining physical strength to pull her around and force her to face him. His eyes met hers. He focused all his chakra into his Sharingan.

Iris face contorted with agony and she fell to the ground. Kakashi didn't like what he had just done but he didn't see another way. Iris continued to scream and back away from Kakashi. Her chakra was inconsistently spiking and ebbing away and her screams dulled down and her eyes grew blank. Kakashi made sure to remain in eye contact the whole time. Eventually she fell either unconscious or asleep and her body went back to the way it had been at the ball.

The room was silent. Godric was staring down at Kakashi in disbelief. Howl stood up angrily and shouted "What did he do to her!"

Sakura answered him with "Genjutsu" a painful expression on her face. She knew that Kakashi had likely forced her into a torturous memory. Iris's screams could only indicate what kind.

Corvin quickly jumped down to the arena with Godric right behind him. They pushed Kakashi out of the way and began re-attaching the devices. Godric stared at Kakashi's eye with interest. Kakashi quickly covered up his Sharingan and said "She'll be awake in a few hours."

Corvin and Godric didn't seem to care. After the suppression marks were replaced they left Iris lying on the ground and motioned for the groups to come down from the viewing platforms. He stared happily at all the Shinobi and proudly stated that the tournament was over.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note:  
Done with the nasty bit of fighting for now- I just don't enjoy writing it. It's more of a visual thing I feel.

Chapter 8

The Leaf Shinobi stayed in the Clyvaen capital for two days after the tournament. Their time there was mostly full of meeting important figureheads of the country. They saw very little of the 6 they had fought on the first day. Those who had won in the tournament would function as mentors for the 6 beast children. There would also be separate training done with Naruto as he was the best, and one of the only, examples of how to control beast chakra. They were also taught how to remove and replace the seals on the spirit warriors for the explicit purpose of training. A handful of soldiers were sent with them to remain at Konoha in case things got out of hand.

The trip back from the transportation device to Konoha was full of energy as the Shinobi were all happy to be home. The 5 clyvaen males asked a lot of questions about where they were going. Kakashi had got the impression that they had never left the Capital City before. Iris stayed quiet and withdrawn the entire journey. Once back in the leaf village it was up to the ninja to organize their own training regime. They were still expected to take on casual missions but most of their responsibility would lie with their guests.

* * *

Kakashi stood in Tsunade's office with his mission report. They had gone over every detail of what he had noticed during the trip. Tsunade didn't seem overly concerned about the whole affair.

"Keep an eye on that girl. They've expressly forbidden us from doing any unneeded medical exams on them." Tsunade paused to consider her next words. "They are clearly hiding something and its likely to do with that girl. We have them all being watched by Anbu members. Is she a danger to the villagers?"

"Not with the containment system they have on her. As I said before, she managed to save Hinata while half of them were off. She was powerful yes, but I think she has more control over it than they know."

"Or maybe they do know and don't want her having control." Tsunade said slowly.

Kakashi thought about the way the girl acted at the ball before the fight and how she had fought him. "I don't think she has complete control but I do not trust Godric."

"Sources told me that he was the only one opposing the deal with Konoha. I had some Anbu poke around for information while doing routine missions over there. All six of them have lost control multiple times and wrecked parts of the city. The worst was the girl but we couldn't find any details into any of the events."

Silence held the room. Kakashi glanced out the window at the peaceful village.

"Just keep her out of trouble, Kakashi." Tsunade turned back to the paperwork on her desk.

Kakashi turned to leave the room.

"One more thing," the Hokage said, calling the Copy-nin back. "The five guys are all going to be living with their trainers while they are here. In the case of those that lost to a team, they will be staying with one of the guys." Kakashi waited as Tsunade looked at him. "You're apartment was too small for both of you so we moved you to another one."

Kakashi stared at her. "What," he choked out.

"We can't let them be alone. And she seemed pretty adamant that she wouldn't stay with any of her companions. Sakura, Hinata and Ino are going to be too busy with their mission to look after her and it was clear that she has the potential to cause harm. It was thought best that she live with you since you can subdue her if needed." Tsunade looked at him curiously. "Is that a problem, Hatake?"

Kakashi regained his composure before lazily turning to leave the room. "Where is it?" he asked as he left the room.

Tsunade shouted the address at him as he closed the door.

* * *

Iris took in her surroundings as she walked into a dimly lit apartment. One of the masked ninja had escorted her to the building, given her a key with a number on it and left. She suspected he was still hanging around somewhere watching.

The apartment was barely furnished. There was a couch placed in between two windows. A small lounge chair was in the corner. On either side were a bookshelf and a tall reading lamp. There was a small coffee table in the middle of the room. To the left was a hallway that likely lead to the bedroom. All she had with her was a small side bag, which she dropped by the door. Taking off her boots she walked into the living room to explore the rest of the apartment. The entranceway was separated from the living room by a small step. Iris left her shoes at the edge of the wooden floor. Through the living room she could see a small eating area. Behind that was a little kitchen.

Is this how their soldiers live she thought to herself as she walked down the hallway to the bedrooms. She opened the first door to her left, which turned out to be a moderate sized bathroom. Iris continue down the hallway approaching the first door on the right. It was locked. That must be where he would be sleeping. Was this his apartment? It didn't even look lived in.

She walked to the last bedroom and opened the door. It wasn't particularly big. Nothing like what she had had in Monoloft. But if this is what it took to get away from there then she was okay with it. There was a single bed against the wall with the window. Iris walked back out into the hall to grab her bag. In it were the tools she needed to make her room more appropriate. She wouldn't change the entire apartment, just her little sanctuary.

Iris started pulling things at random out of her bag. It seemed to be endless. Finally she found what she was looking for. In her hands she held a glowing purple rock. She gripped it tightly and focused on the room around her. She gently urged the room to be bigger, softly pushing at the wall where the bed was. The room groaned softly as it adjusted to what she wanted. From the outside the apartment would look just like every other in this building. She was using the stone in her hand to alter the dimension of the room so that she could have more space.

Next she turned to the bed and changed it from a single to a double. Once that was done she started pulling out a few belongings and decorating the room. It wasn't much, most of it was just tools for enchanting. She put away a series of books into a bookshelf that she had also placed in the room.

Iris wasn't particularly fond of the colour of the walls so she changed that too. They went from a bland beige-brown to a soft mint green. She pulled out a quilt and some pillows for the bed and then began to fill the closet with clothes. She let her mind wander as she unpacked.

She understood why she wasn't allowed to live alone here but wasn't comfortable with the option she took. It was better than being forced to live with one of the guys since all they would do is paw at her all the time, but she had hoped she would gain more freedom here. Yes she had had her own quarters in the Dragon Clan palace but she was always being watched there. Apparently that wasn't going to change. Though, the reasons here were different.

Iris hoped that the news of her living arrangements wouldn't travel to Godric too quickly. She smiled to herself as she remembered how the masked Ninja had irritated her guardian. She thought back to the brief moment of contact. Her brows furrowed in concern.

Nothing had ever happened like that. The way Godric had designed her containment bindings was to force her chakra to fill the receiver's pleasure points. It usually just had a drug-like high effect on the one receiving it. Never had she felt the same sort of feeling back. And the look that the masked man had given her wasn't one of drug-induced enjoyment but something else. Did this happen with all people who could access chakra freely? Although she wasn't particularly fond of the idea of living with some strange man, she was happy that he had been able to defeat her. She had held back to the best of her ability while still trying to appear as if she battled in full earnest. The ninja were surprising in the way they battled. Hopefully this all worked out and they were able to control their demons.

Iris heard the click of a door opening and tried to sense who had entered. Her body flared in pain as the tattoos attempted to prevent her from accessing her chakra. She managed to stretch out her senses far enough to identify the intruder as Kakashi. Instead of going out to greet him she just continued unpacking. It was best if she talked to him as little as possible.

Kakashi had had a similar discussion with himself as he walked to the apartment. He didn't like the way his body had reacted to her at the ball. Not only was she far too young but the whole situation was way too messy. It'd be like trying to start something with Sakura. Kakashi shuddered.

As he entered the apartment he hoped that Tsunade had at least moved his stuff into the new one. He recognized his couch and reading chair sitting in the living room. Iris's boots were lying on the ground in front of the door. He could hear movement coming from the last bedroom down the hallway.

He sighed as he contemplated the situation. He walked casually down the hallway pausing next to the door to what he assumed was his room. Kakashi grabbed the second of the two keys the Anbu outside had handed him and opened the door. The room was small, but full of all his books and weapons. They had tidied up the mess he left at his old place at least. The picture of team Kakashi sat on the windowsill. Kakashi turned down the hallway to greet Iris. He wanted to get the training schedule set quickly. Her door was slightly ajar and he could see movement inside.

The Copy-nin wondered if she had noticed him approach the door. He watched, in slight amazement, as she continued to pull books and clothing out of a very small bag. Her room looked bigger than his too. He knocked gently.

If she was startled she didn't let it show.

Iris had heard him casually enter the apartment and check out his room. She had hoped he'd leave her alone but after a few minutes he had approached her door. She tried to ignore him, praying that he might just be looking. After a few seconds he knocked. She pushed the door open further without looking at him and went back to what she was doing. The masked ninja didn't say anything for a few minutes – just continued to lazily watch her continue. It was unnerving. What she had found amusingly intriguing the other night now began to annoy her. She placed the last straggling book from her bag on the bookshelf before sitting down on her bed and gazing back at him, determined not to be the first to speak.

Kakashi watched her try to remain unreadable. It was pretty clear that his presence annoyed her. She was no longer that quiet girl from the party. Now all he saw was a teenager; which made things a little easier. As she sat down on the bed she met his lazy gaze with a haughty one. Her hair had gone back to that almost no colour but every colour black. Her eyes were flashing oranges and red. She was wearing the same turquoise jacket as before and underneath was a very simple black dress. Her feet were bare. She had a couple large rings on her hands and a fairly large pendent around her neck. Kakashi suspected these were Chakra devises.

"We'll train every day in the morning. We'll start with the basics that all our young ninja learn in the Academy. After training you can do what you want. I'm not going to baby-sit you." Kakashi drawled lazily. "Any questions?"

"Where do I get food?"

"You go out and buy it?" Kakashi said slowly.

Iris's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Okay… I was under the impression that I couldn't do anything here without you escorting me."

"That is the impression everyone is giving." Kakashi said as he turned into the hallway and locked himself in his room. Iris watched him, annoyed at how unwelcoming he was being. She wasn't sure if she could just leave whenever she wanted to or not.

Iris propped herself up on her bed, staring out the window. The village looked so peaceful. Children were running in the streets and people were walking about, possibly heading home to make dinner. Her stomach grumbled with her thoughts. She got up and walked into the kitchen, eyeing Kakashi's closed door as she passed with dislike. She opened the fridge to see what there was. Nothing. They had put nothing in the fridge, or cupboards. All there was were a couple plates and cups. She contemplated what to do next. No one had given her any money for this area. In Monoloft servants just brought her things if she asked, usually because they were scared, but still. Wasn't this ninja supposed to take care of her here? She angrily opened and slammed every cupboard door in the kitchen.

Kakashi heard her little temper tantrum. They hadn't seen much of Monoloft but he had noticed that they never had to ask for anything. There was always someone's servant bringing food or drink before anyone asked. Hopefully she knew how to cook at least. Kakashi knew his mission was to keep close tabs on her but she didn't need to know that. He planned on getting the Anbu to back off. He doubted Iris had even noticed them watching her in her current state. Nonetheless, luring her into a false sense of security would allow him to learn more about her without getting close.

It wouldn't do to have her go hungry though, not with training in the morning. As Kakashi opened his door and began walking through it, Iris turned the corner into the hallway. She stopped and glared at him as he walked out. Kakashi had an inward sigh of relief at the mannerisms of the young girl. Sure she was beginning to act like an insufferable teenager but at least the desire he had felt for her before was no longer present. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and tried to let his eyes show a friendly smile.

"What do you do for food all the time? There's nothing in your kitchen."

Kakashi chuckled softly. "This is not my apartment. They've moved me here for this mission." He walked passed Iris and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Iris's annoyance was showing more and more.

Kakashi didn't answer her and just left the building.

Iris stood there glaring at the door. Was she supposed to follow him or stay in the apartment? Usually Godric had told her where to go for the day or else she'd stay in her quarters, especially after the incident. At least she was away from that whole mess now. She had contemplated running away but suspected that the containment seals functioned as tracking devices too.

Iris walked back to her room and pulled a book from the shelf. Luckily this ninja couldn't read her language. She didn't need him finding out that she read the same kind books as he did. Her stomach growled loudly as she opened to a dog-eared page. Iris pulled her bag toward her and began rifling around. She knew she had at least packed an apple or something. A few minutes passed before Iris gave up and decided to take a shower instead.

* * *

Kakashi struggled with the door to the apartment. He had gone out to pick up a few groceries and some take-out for the night. The apartment was silent save for the sound of kids playing outside. Maybe she had left to find food for herself. Kakashi put away the meager groceries he had bought and left the take out on the dining room table. The Copy-nin then made his way down the hallway to check whether or not Iris was in her room. Just as he was walking by, the bathroom door flew open and he was greeted with the site of Iris standing there, startled, in a towel.

Her hair shimmered. He could see the outline of her breasts beneath the towel. From what he could see the markings covered her entire body almost, some places more faded than others. A minute passed as the two just stared at each other. Iris blushed profusely as Kakashi's gaze lingered and motioned for him to get out of the way. The copy-nin continued to stare at her. There was plenty of room for her to get by but he backed up anyways. Iris scoffed "pervert" as she quickly walked back to her room and slammed the door.

Kakashi watched her as she went. Liking the way her behind swayed. The Copy-nin shook his head, turned around and started setting out the take-out.

Iris stood in her room, panting, her face crimson with embarrassment. The silver-haired ninja had just gawked at her half naked body. It wasn't unusual for her to get looks but never in that close of proximity. Never as naked. Howl had tried many a time to catch her off-guard. As had most of the guys. Their looks and attempts were usually followed by groping attempts as her moods affected the intensity of her skins powers. Somehow this had been different. Maybe its because she was being modest about it. For some reason the way Kakashi looked at her made her want to cover herself up. Everyone else just made her feel like a tool or toy. To be used and thrown away.

Iris jumped, dropping the towel, as she heard a soft knock on her door. There was a long pause as she remained silent.

"I bought some take-out." Kakashi's low voice came through the door.

Iris shuddered and quickly grabbed the nearest clothing before opening the door with a forced smile. "Give me a minute."

Kakashi watched her curiously from his side of the door. Her face was still pink with embarrassment. Kakashi didn't know why he had knocked on her door so soon. Maybe his perverted mind had wanted another glimpse. She had annoyed him so much before but her innocent eyes and bashfulness, not to mention her curves, triggered the thoughts that he had had the night they met.

Seeing that he was going to continue to wait in the doorway, Iris turned around and grabbed a small, but strange looking, hair brush. Her hair dried instantaneously with each stroke of the brush. Kakashi watched with a slight smirk on his face. Why did she care what she looked like?

Once finished, Iris turned around and motioned for him to lead the way down the hallway. She could smell the food but couldn't place it. Kakashi could only smell vanilla.

"What is this?" Iris asked. The food was, naturally, foreign to her.

"A random assortment of sushi and tempura. I wasn't sure what you would like."

Iris picked up a piece of salmon maki and popped into her mouth. She immediately spit it out and started gagging. Kakashi laughed.

Iris said something in her native language before trying a piece of the tempura. This seemed to satisfy her more and she sat down to fill up a plate mostly of the lightly battered assortment of vegetables and shrimp. The entire time she blatantly avoided making any form of eye contact with the copy-nin.

Kakashi sighed inwardly as he ate his food with ninja speed to avoid taking off his mask in front of his new roommate. This girl was complicated and confusing. The mission was annoying. He'd much rather be out there slaying enemy nin than dealing with a young woman. Still, she had been remarkably strong and from what he could tell she had had zero training from her clan.

The pair had been sitting in silence while they ate. Iris was progressively getting more and more irritated by her situation. She had dreamed that this trip would let her get some freedom, maybe even make some friends that would actually be friends. Her only companions back home were her fellow demon spawn. She had been pretty happy and hopeful during the meet and greet with the ninja their age. Especially with Kakashi's blatant disregard to the authority of Godric. He had been so removed from the festivities that she had to get closer, albeit she had been pretty drunk at the time. She had built up the whole scenario too much in her mind it seemed. Coming to Konoha wasn't going to magically change her situation. God, she needed a drink or something else. But that something else was out of her reach unless she wanted to trade Marcus for it, which was out of the question. She smirked inwardly as she recalled how Marcus had charmed his way into the kunoichi's hearts.

After eating the two, still in silence, separated to their rooms.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Thanks Everyone!

Bit of mature stuff in here now.

Chapter 9

The first week of training started off very slowly. With the metal bits attached to her Iris had zero control over her ability to access her powers. Kakashi noticed that when she did the markings would flair up and seemed to cause her pain. After two days of watching her struggle the Copy-nin decided to remove a couple of the disks. The results were dramatic. Her control rivaled that of Sakura's when she had first started training with Tsunade. Kakashi had been right it seemed. This girl new how to control it in small doses.

After training Kakashi would disappear and leave Iris to her own devices. They had developed a form of routine in which they would spend as little time together as possible. Kakashi would leave after training and not reappear in the apartment until well after nightfall. Iris would wander around the village trying to assuage her boredom while avoiding coming into contact with anyone. She had no money and usually just spent her time watching the people of the village. Occasionally she saw some of the ninja her age but they were either with her companions, which would force her to hide, or were just friendly with each other and barely gave her a glance.

By the end of the week the boredom had finally gotten to Iris and she sought out Marcus. She found him with the pink haired kunoichi with the monstrous strength. The two of them were sitting at a café talking about scientific things that Iris didn't care about. She watched them for a while. It was pretty clear that the pink haired girl was smitten with Marcus. This surprised Iris since they all had seen the real version of Marcus during the tournament. The two didn't seem like they were going to separate any time soon so Iris decided just to approach them and get it over with.

"Marcus," Iris stated blankly as she stood next to their table.

Sakura looked at Iris with wide, apprehensive, eyes. Marcus looked at her with amusement. He knew what she wanted.

"Yes?" Marcus raised an eyebrow quizzically. He wasn't going to make this easy.

"You know what I want, let's just cut the bullshit." Iris said this in their native language and she didn't really feel like causing rumors among the young ninja.

"Why don't you sit down and join us?" Marcus was blatantly ignoring her. "None of us have seen you this whole week. We all miss you, like a sister."

Iris glared down at him. He wanted to make her seem offputting to the other young ninja. It was all a part of the clan-heads plan likely. Distance her from them all and diminish the risk of them figuring out anything about her.

"Where have you even been living?"

Sakura glanced back from Marcus to Iris. She was apprehensive about it sure, but also really curious. The girl had demonstrated the most power and had somehow befriend her sensei at the ball.

"Please sit down," Sakura said with a bright smile on her face. "I havn't seen Kakashi-sensei all week either, though that's not that abnormal for him- he's such a recluse. The old pervert." She laughed brightly and Iris gingerly took a seat closer to Sakura than Marcus. Sakura noticed Iris's trepidation. The way the Clyvaen guys treated Iris was weird and she couldn't figure it out.

"So, dear _sister, _where exactly are you staying?"

Fine, she thought. I'll play this game.

"Where do you think?"

"You know Godric wouldn't like that."

"I don't give a fuck what Godric likes." Iris stared at him dangerously.

Sakura watched the two. There were a lot of hidden subtexts in their words but the pink haired kunoichi didn't have enough information to figure out the meaning.

"They have you living with sensei!?" Sakura decided to try to make the conversation lighter. Maybe befriending Iris would shed some light on things, and maybe, since she was living with Kakashi, she'd have seen his face. Sakura laughed to herself. "He's not being a pervert and spying on you in the shower is he!"

Iris shifter her eye contact from Marcus to Sakura. The bright haired girl was full of mirth. It was contagious. Iris couldn't help but smile a bit. "Uh, no. He really isn't there ever. I don't really see him a part from training."

"Then what have you been doing? None of us have seen you around." Sakura said. "Oh I KNOW! You should come to the Sloppy Kunai tonight with everyone! We've been planning on trying to get everyone together. Really it was Naruto's idea, maybe Kiba and Ino's too as it involves the bar, but Naruto wanted everyone to become better friends. He really doesn't like the way you have been treated over there."

Marcus watched Sakura with hungry interest. Iris recognized that look as something to be weary of. Back home whenever Marcus gave a girl that look they usually ended up with their blood drained. Iris moved her hand to lightly touch Marcus's exposed wrist without drawing attention to the act. She hoped that some of her power could ebb his creepy desires.

"Uhm, maybe?" Iris looked at Sakura, trying not to look at Marcus's reaction. She had felt him relax a bit under her brief moment of contact.

"Just maybe? All the guys seemed to imply that you really liked bars and drinking. They all really want you to come actually. And we all would too." Sakura said persuasively.

Iris knew why they wanted her there. To take advantage of her. And if she wasn't there they would probably take advantage of the other girls, though she doubted the kunoichi needed any protecting.

"Yea, just maybe." She smiled softly at Sakura. She really did want to become friends with the ninja but that situation wasn't one she put herself in anymore. Iris moved her attentions to Marcus. "So, do you have any?"

Sakura stared at the two in confusion. Have any what?

Marcus was glancing thoughtfully at his wrist. "Yes…. What's the address of where you are living?"

Iris stared back at him. Apparently her actions before had deterred his hunger from Sakura but ignited it for herself.

"Do you have it on you?"

Sakura had gotten fed up with their blatant disregard toward her. She slammed her hand down on the table, a small crack appeared. "Have what?!" She growled.

Marcus continued to lazily stare back at Iris.

"Drugs. Fun drugs. Get it?" Iris snapped. Sakura just stared at her in annoyance.

"Why would Marcus have any?"

"I make them for us. Or grow it for us, rather. It's recreational but our guardians don't like us having access to it. And yes, Iris, I do. Lead me to your place and I'll get you some." Marcus stood up and pulled Iris up with him. "I'll see you tonight Sakura" He smiled charmingly at her. "I can't wait" He added in her ear as he followed Iris down the street.

* * *

Marcus and Iris entered her and Kakashi's apartment.

"You can't tell any of the rest of them where this is" Iris stated angrily while shedding her boots and sitting down on the couch.

"Don't worry. I'm all too happy to keep this secret to myself." Marcus sat directly next to her on the couch and brushed her cheek with his hand. His eyes glazed over slightly.

"Do you have any on you" Iris said while pulled her face away from him.

"Yes, actually, quite a bit." Marcus pulled a tin about the size of his hand from an enchanted pouch he had attached to his pants. Iris went to grab it but he pulled it back. "I knew you would be wanting this, so I have been carrying it around. I'll give you some to get you through the night for a kiss."

"The night?" Iris looked at him in disbelief.

"Well, you have pretty much disappeared, and I suspect you won't be gracing us all with your presence all that much." He stared at her, gaging her reaction, and her need. "If you want more you have to give me more."

Iris hated him. The others were all possessive and obvious. Marcus kept this hidden. He truly was a creepy bastard.

"How much for the whole tin," she would get through it all at once maybe, and she could avoid them for months.

Marcus smiled at her and moved to remove her customary turquoise jacket. Iris barely responded and let him do it.

"Enough that your effects will last as long as that tin." He whispered in her ear as he bit into her neck. Iris winced as she felt him pierce her skin. His tongue lapped up some of the blood that had oozed from her neck. She felt him sigh into her. He grabbed her more roughly and forced her to stand. Marcus began removing more of her clothes making sure to touch her everywhere he could. Iris just closed her eyes and delt with it. Trying to will her powers to give him more than usual, to make this end more quickly.

Iris was now standing, humiliated, in the room only in her bra and panties. Marcus's eyes were glazed over completely, blood smeared on his lips. He forced her to kneel in front of him on the couch. Iris didn't move as he placed her hands on his cock.

"Uh, no" She tried to pull her hand back.

"Then you only get 1 gram of this" he shook the tin.

"I havn't let any of you touch me this way in a year and all I get is a gram?"

"Where else will you get it, Iris." Marcus grabbed her hand again while unzipping his pants. Iris seethed with anger, a pulse of chakra emanated from her with her anger. Marcus groaned in both pleasure and pain.

"It's not that bad when you are angry, you know. Though it is better when you used to enjoy this."

"Fuck you"

Marcus roughly pulled her into his lap. She tried to get away from him but couldn't. He bit roughly into her breast. She watched the blood slowly trickle out into his mouth. He was such a creep. Marcus's eyes had changed from human to more demon. Iris then clued in. He didn't have all his inhibitors in.

"If you fuck me you'll be mine and this charade between the clan heads would all be over." He lapped up the blood that had come out of her breast.

Iris tried to pull away again, but her chakra was being pulled directly into Marcus now. With most of her skin bare she couldn't gather up the strength to get off him. She should have noticed that he wasn't fully contained. Are they all running around without the inhibitors in? Marcus was getting more rough. He pushed her down onto the couch and pinned her. His fangs were fully out now and his eyes were black as night.

"Marcus stop it." He was hurting her. She needed to get away from him now. This had been a huge mistake.

"You want it, you little whore." Iris desperately tried to force some of her chakra out. Her tattoos burned and glowed. Marcus laughed into her skin.

"Always so angry." He pulled at her panties as she struggled more to get away. She kicked him as hard as she could and tried to pull herself off the couch. She got a foot before he grabbed her and forced her into the coffee table which cracked and broke under the force. The wood splintered apart and Iris felt them stab into her skin. Iris yelped in pain as she felt Marcus dig his fingers around some of the cuts from the wood. He had her completely pinned beneath him with the ruins of the coffee table underneath her. Iris tried again to force her skin to become scalding hot but her chakra just continued to ebb into Marcus. This only pushed him into delirium more.

"Get off me" she screamed trying to push him. This time Marcus seemed to fly across the room. There was a blur of movement and Iris saw Kakashi pinning Marcus up against the wall in a death grip.

"What the fuck is going on." The copy-nin shouted at her.

Iris didn't answer. Marcus was grabbing at the copy-nin's arm with murderous intent but he couldn't move.

Marcus laughed manically under Kakashi's grip.

"Can you make him forget where we live?" Iris asked from her place on the floor.

Kakashi glanced at her and finally really took in the scene before him. She was almost naked and covered in blood. Marcus was in some form of blood lust that was clear, but why were her clothes off. None of them were ripped.

The copy-nin exposed his sharingan and simultaneously forced Marcus to forget where they were and go unconscious. After the boy had gone limp Kakashi performed some seals and Marcus teleported from the apartment. He turned to Iris and glared down at her.

"What were you doing?"

The girl didn't answer him again. Instead she moved to the couch and grabbed a tin that had been placed next to her clothes. Blood was smeared all over her back from the cuts caused by the coffee table. Despite the situation Kakashi couldn't help but notice that this woman was sexy as hell.

Iris grabbed the tin and her clothes together in a bundle and got up to run to her bedroom but Kakashi grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her. The pair were flooded with extreme feelings of lust and need. Iris pulled away.

"Don't touch me."

Kakashi shook his head to regain his composure.

"Just tell me what happened." His voice was earnest and full of compassion. "Why are you all but naked, why was he here, why is my coffee table broken."

He looked in her eyes. They began to well up with tears. Iris sighed and shook them off. "You're not supposed to know."

"What?"

"You've noticed my skin right. Or touching me right? Guys that touch me get surges of pleasure, pretty much getting drunk or high off of it. The more sexual the more they get. If I'm in a good mood its better. It takes on different forms for the emotions."

"So he followed you home?" Kakashi voiced growled dangerously.

Iris wouldn't meet his eyes. "No, I wanted this." She waved the tin at him. "I'm bored and people at home smoke this recreationally."

Kakashi grabbed the tin from her and opened it. It smelt like taima, the mellow drug that was passed around at parties when you were younger. It wasn't illegal in Konoha but frowned upon. He had partook in his youth with Genma but hadn't seen any in years. He gave the tin back to her.

"So you were naked?"

A tear slipped down her cheek. "I didn't realize some of his inhibitors were removed. They must have taken them off for training and never put them back on. He wanted a trade. Usually he just gropes at me, bites me a bit and leaves, but today he was …" She broke off with a sob.

Kakashi watched the girl before him, naked and crying. Not sure what to do. Her cuts had stopped bleeding so far but it looked like there was still some wood inside some of them.

"I'm going to get Sakura to clean all that up." Kakashi moved to walk out of the apartment but Iris had grabbed his clothed arm.

"Please don't. She was with Marcus before. I can heal all this if you remove some of the inhibitor disks."

Kakashi looked at her for a moment, wondering why she couldn't have fought back. "How many can I take out before you might lose control? And how many need to be out to make sure that you can control whether or not someone gets affected by your touch?"

Iris looked at him, a hopeful glisten in her eyes. "I can touch people without worrying if 4 are removed but I lose control more often after 3. If you take out 3 then I can still control how much people get, most of the time."

Kakashi moved to perform the necessary jutsu to remove the inhibitor disks. "What happens at 3 if people touch you?"

"Usually nothing, only if I'm in a certain mood…." Iris trailed off a blush on her face. Kakashi didn't push it further.

After the 3 inhibitor disks were removed Iris went to the bathroom to clean up her skin. Kakashi heard the bathtub start to fill up. He figured he'd have enough time to report to Lady Tsunade before Iris came out again.

* * *

Tsunade scowled at Kakashi from her desk. He knew that her feelings were not directed at him but it was terrifying none-the-less.

"So she's essentially been physically abused her entire life." Tsunade said angrily.

"It seems like it" Kakashi said gravely. "I'm requesting that the three disks stay out of her permanently while she is here. And that no one really be told where she is"

"Do you know how difficult that is going to be? Her clan head is already furious to know that I placed her in living accommodations with you. Likely because he thinks you used her up or some other disgusting thing."

"I don't really care what they think." Kakashi said gruffly. "There is more to what they want out of this then they are telling us. I don't think this alliance is really what they said it was either. They are clearly afraid of her and have kept her locked up."

"You're probably right. Try to stick with her more. Maybe you can coerce some information out of her. I have Sakura doing the same with that Marcus shit but after what he did today I am going to have her back off. I had wanted her to get more information about the disks and all their technology."

"Sakura will be fine."

Tsunade glared at him. "I know she will, she is my apprentice. His actions are just disgusting. Anyways, take her to the bar with all of them tonight. Get her to know the other ninja. She needs friends Kakashi. From the sounds of things she's been alone her whole life."

Kakashi nodded and left her office.

* * *

Iris had just finished washing all the blood off her body when Kakashi got back. She was still in the bathroom when Kakashi said through the door, "We're going to the Sloppy Kunai in an hour."

"Why" she yelled back.

Kakashi chose not to answer her. Instead he went back to the living room and began to clean up the mess.

Iris rushed quickly got out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself before slamming open the bathroom door and confronting the Copy-nin.

"Well?" she all but shouted.

Kakashi stared at her, a garbage bag half full of splintered coffee table in his hand. Water dripped from her hair down her exposed shoulders. The Copy-nin could feel his face redden and thanked Kami that the girl would never notice. Kakashi was speechless. He tried to say something but no words would come out of his mouth.

Iris was growing impatient. Why was he just staring at her? She started to walker closer to him, hoping to slap him into his senses, but she lost her footing in the small pool of water that had collected underneath her. She flailed her arms, wildly trying to grab something to stable herself. Iris felt herself falling and braced her self for impact; but instead of hitting the ground she felt strong arms tighten around her and stabilize her.

Kakashi's face was inches from hers. His were his standard, droopy, lazy eyes – not betraying the emotions inside. Hers were wide with shock and embarrassment. Unlike before, the direct skin-to-skin contact did not instill a rush of lustful chakra. Iris could feel the skin where he touched her tingle with an unknown feeling. Her body grew hot under his touch. The unfamiliar sensation confused her.

The proximity was almost unbearable for Kakashi. He could smell her scent, vanilla and something else he couldn't place. Her skin beneath his hands was so soft. Wait, her skin? He looked down and noticed the towel pooled around their feet. Iris followed his gaze. She screeched as she pushed him off, grabbed her towel and ran back to her bedroom.

Kakashi chuckled. Silently giving himself kudos for the view he got before she ran down the hallway.

* * *

40 minutes later Kakashi was sitting lazily on his couch reading Icha Icha Tactics when he heard Iris come walking down the hall. Kakashi decided to keep his eyes on the page to avoid the awkwardness from the earlier incident.

"So why do we have to go?"

Without looking up the Copy-nin replied "Orders."

"Orders" her confusion was evident in her tone. "From who?"

Kakashi sighed as he set his book down and faced her from his position on the couch. He did a small double take when he looked at her. She had changed the colour of her hair, and cut it all but off. It was longer in the front than in the back and now, instead of the mysterious black it had been before, it was a faded lavender. She was wearing a soft pink sundress with a black leather jacket and black stockings.

"The Hokage believes it best for you to get to know the rest of the ninja that are your age. I do too, actually." He looked at her sheepishly. "Though, I don't want to go either."

Iris laughed at this. She could see the way he was looking at her new hair. With the three inhibitors gone she was able to change her hair colour at will. Her decision to cut it all off had been in an attempt to distance herself from her past life.

"How about we don't go." She turned to go back to her room but Kakashi had stood up and grabbed the cuff of her jacket as he pulled her out the door.

"Come on, I'll buy the drinks." She pulled her arm from him and walked in pace next to him down the hallway. "Oh, and I like the colour."

Iris smiled softly and hoped he didn't notice her blush.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Sloppy Kunai was packed full of young and old ninja. As the Copy-nin entered with Iris in tow he saw all the young ninja scattered at different tables across the room. At one table were Ino and Sakura who were laughing at the flirtatious antics of Genma. Howl and Felix were laughing and drinking animatedly with a very drunk Naruto. Kakashi spotted Berwyn and Leo getting drinks at the bar. Kiba, Shino, Neji, Hinata and Tenten were sitting at a table in the back, a bunch of half empty and empty glasses scattered on the table-top. He glanced over at Iris to gage her mood but she was already approaching the side of the bar closest to them. Kakashi followed her while searching the bar for any sign of Marcus.

Kakashi was surprised when Iris ordered 4 shots of whisky and handed two of them to him. She quickly downed one and waited with a cocked eyebrow for him to follow suit. He chuckled to himself and with lightning speed downed the two shots without removing his mask. Iris drank her last one before ordering two beers and handing one to the Copy-nin.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" he laughed.

"Trying to get myself drunk and its boring alone."

"Kakashi sensei! You came! But where is Iris…oh" Sakura exclaimed as she approached her sensei at the bar. She hadn't recognized Iris. "You changed your hair."

Iris just nooded while downing half her beer in one go. She glanced across the room and noticed that Howl was approaching with a smirk on his face. She quickly drank the rest of her beer.

"You need to slow down," Kakashi said lowly.

"You need to speed up, old man."

Kakashi stared back at her with a slight twitch in his eyes. "This old man can drink you under the table."

Iris laughed, "Prove it, another beer please!" she shouted at the bartender.

Kakashi slammed down his empty bottle and ordered another for himself.

Sakura smiled. "Ooo guys!" She motioned for Ino and Naruto to come over. "Kakashi's getting drunk tonight!".

Naruto laughed excitedly and Ino giggled.

"Do you guys remember the last time that happened?" laughed Ino.

"Yea he proposed to Gai!" Sakura laughed.

Kakashi threw silent daggers at the young ninjas but laughed with them none-the-less. He could feel the alcohol burning in his system and felt the familiar sensation warm his face.

"Have you seen Marcus since earlier?" Sakura asked Iris.

Iris didn't answer right away. Instead she looked back at Kakashi with a small smirk on her face. It was at this moment that Howl finally reached their side of the bar.

"You saw Marcus earlier?" He looked at her with intensity. He pushed through all of them and placed himself next to her at the bar. Brushing up against her bare hand in the process. Iris looked at his face with a defiant glare and saw that Howl was confused.

Kakashi pulled Iris closer to him and made his way to a small booth as he motioned to a waitress. Iris glanced at him with a smile and sat down opposite him.

"This is how this is going to work," He said as the waitress approached the table. He ignored Howls murderous glare from the other side of the room. "First one who can't match the others drink loses." He moved his attention to the waitress and said "Keep these coming."

"That's the power of youth!" Yelled Gai and Lee in unison as they watched Kakashi and Iris. Kakashi rolled his eyes and waited for the bar to go back to how it was before they entered. He noticed that Howl had walked over to Leo, Berwyn and Felix and start talking to them in their native language.

"Is that going to be a problem?" he asked motioning to the guys.

"hmmm?" Iris smiled back at him. She had become a lot more relaxed. She giggled at him as she followed his gaze. "Ahh, I don't know. Maybe? Who cares…" She sipped from her beer.

Kakashi watched her with amusement. She had become the girl he had first met. She was so cute, he thought.

"Hey, so what happens if I win this little drinking contest?" she asked him.

"Hmmm, what do you want?" he asked with a small smile.

She paused to think for a minute as they both lazily drank their beers and studied the drunken room around them. She could see Howl and Leo watching her and Kakashi from their respective parts of the room.

"Could you get it so that I can go on missions outside the village with you?"

Kakashi studied her face. Why would she want that?

"I don't know," he replied. "Why?"

"I just want to get away from them and see stuff." She replied softly, her eyes cast downwards.

Kakashi laughed out loud. "Alright, I'll ask if you win. But if I win you have to," he paused contemplating, "Read Icha Icha to me at night before bed." This was all he could come up with. He wouldn't have said it had he not had a few drinks.

Iris laughed loudly. A huge grin plastered on her face. "Deal, you pervert." She said as she tipped her beer against his before downing the last of it. Her cheeks were tinted pink but Kakashi couldn't tell if that was from a blush or the alcohol.

"Hey Iris!" Leo had approached their table and pushed himself in the booth next to her, "Kakashi," he nodded towards the Copy-nin. "You are looking gorgeous tonight my little dragonette." Leo added as he nuzzled into her hair. "I love the new colour."

Iris laughed, which surprised Kakashi. She pushed the lion back from her with a smile. "Fuck off," she said but without the usual aggression.

Leo looked at her seriously. "How many inhibitors are out?"

Iris looked back at him, "Just three."

Leo looked at Kakashi next. "I hope you know what you are doing."

Kakashi justed lazily stared back at him as he finished his own beer and waved the waitress over to get two more.

"Seriously, the last time that…" Leo was cut off as Iris pushed him with force that rivaled Sakura's chakra punch. Leo flew out of the booth and into a nearby table. She glared at Leo, her eyes a deep red. Kakashi could feel his hair stand on end as her chakra spread out from her like static. Most of the room hadn't noticed these events, but both Howl and Felix were starting to move their way. Kakashi grabbed Iris's hand in an attempt to calm her down. He felt a surge of chakra and the lustful feelings from before returned as with a few images of a young male burning in a fire. Iris moved her attention to Kakashi and another image entered his mind. This time it was of him at the ball and the chakra that came with it caused butterflies to erupt in his chest. Iris's eyes changed to a soft pink and she sat back down, pulling her hand away slowly with a small smile on her lips. She grabbed her new drink and chugged half of it, Kakashi followed suit without taking his eyes off of her.

By this time Howl had reached their table and was staring at the two of them he opened his mouth as he started to say something before Leo interrupted him in their own language. Iris looked at the two and replied. The three men turned away and went back to drinking with the other young ninja.

"What was that about?" Kakashi said.

"They think I don't have control over anything," she said, a sad look in her eyes. "But that incident that Leo was referring to will never happen again." She finished her beer, looked at him with glazed eyes and a sloppy smile. "What do you look like?"

Kakashi was taken a back at the topic change. He laughed and went with it, the alcohol making him forget the previous events quickly. He downed the rest of his new beer. "Maybe you should have bet for that."

She smirked back at him, "Next time!" and drank the rest of hers.

* * *

The rest of the night turned into a blur. They matched each other drink for drink before a commotion erupted in the corner. Naruto and Kiba were fighting drunkenly and the bartender was trying to usher them out. Lee had evidently had a couple drinks and rushed to join in on the bar fight. Soon most of the young male ninja were involved in the brawl. Kakashi downed the rest of his drink and motioned for Iris to follow him out of the bar. She laughed did as she was bid.

The pair stumbled out into the street laughing about nothing in particular. Kakashi was leading them towards their apartment when Iris stopped behind him.

"Is there somewhere pretty we can go?" she slurred.

Kakashi looked back at her with curiosity. In his drunken state he decided that carrying her to the top of the Hokage monuments was the best idea. She squealed as he rushed her and started to jump across rooftops. Her laughter rang out across the silent village.

Once they had arrived Kakashi let her down from his arms, reluctantly. He didn't bother to scold himself since in his drunken state his logic seemed to have disappeared. Iris approached the edge and slowly settled down to sit with her legs hanging. She pulled out what looked like a small cigarette and lit it. Kakashi recognized the smell from the tin. After a few puffs she passed it to Kakashi.

The copy-nin took it from her and smelled it. It was only slightly different than what he remembered from his younger years. He sat down next to her on the edge and thoughtlessly removed his mask to puff on it. She stared at him with a huge grin on her face.

"Got to see it anyways!" she exclaimed.

"It's not a big deal" he said back with a laugh. He wasn't sure why he removed it for her. He barely knew her. The smoke he inhaled combined with the alcohol made his body fuzzy, he couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

Iris giggled back at him. "You giggled!" she started laughing louder. "I don't see why you cover your face, you are quite handsome."

Kakashi smiled back at her. "That's the reason. I got too much attention from it in my youth. Too many cheek pinches."

Iris laughed at him, but her eyes had a hint of sadness in them. "Yea," she grabbed the smoking stick from him and puffed on it lazily and she glanced out across the rooftops of Konoha.

Kakashi watched her, his mind becoming foggy with the mixed effects of the alcohol and the drug. Without thinking he reached his hand up to stroke Iris's cheek. She flinched slightly and turned her head to him with a weird look in her eyes. Kakashi could see a world of pain and longing in her eyes. He wanted to protect her from the world that she came from. He moved his hand down to slide his fingers across her lips and cup her chin. A jolt of chakra ran up through his arm. Iris's eyes were swirling a dark pink and her cheeks were flushed. Kakashi tilted her head towards his and concentrated on her lips. As he moved the chakra that emanated from her changed from warm to frigid. An image of sad, dead eyes on a young man crossed his sharingan as Iris quickly got up and moved away.

Kakashi stared at her moving figure, confused. Iris started down the steps back towards town and their apartment. Not uttering a word.


End file.
